Knock Wood! B.F. Skinner was known by many as “The father of radical behaviorism, inventor of the Skinner Box, and an author of dozens of books and articles. “Superstition in the Pigeon” was one popular article of his that was selected since it provided a clear description on studying a certain behavior that we are all familiar with: superstition. Skinner was known as the radical behaviorist because he believed that everything psychological, is essentially behavioral, which includes public (external) or private (internal, such as feelings and thoughts) behavior. In short terms, our behavior is likely to be followed by consequences. One such consequence is called a Reinforcer, when something such as praise, receiving money, or getting satisfaction out of solving a problem, we are more likely to repeat this behavior. Another consequence is called a Punishment, when our behavior is less likely to be repeated such as injuring ourselves or feeling embarrassed. Skinner referred these two consequences as Operant Conditioning: situation=
behavior= consequences-Reinforcement= learning and Punishments= no learning
Theoretical Propositions Now, back to superstition. Skinner’s theory was that people believe in superstition because there is some connection between the superstitious behavior and the reinforcing consequence, which in reality, there is not. This type of connection is called non-contingent reinforcement, where a reward is not contingent on any particular behavior such as shaking dice a certain way will improve your odds of winning.
Method For Skinner to prove his theory he used his invention the Skinner Box (or conditioning chamber). He took this box which was empty except for a food dish or tray for food to be dispensed into, placed a pigeon in there, then rigged it in a way that food would automatically dispense every 15 seconds no matter how the pigeon acted. In this study or experiment he used eight pigeons that were fed less than their usual daily amount of food, for three days, so they were
hungry and highly motivated for the experiment (this increased the power of reinforcement).
Results Skinner found that out of all eight pigeons that were tested: one pigeon would turn counterclockwise in the cage, another would repeatedly thrust its head in the corner of the cage, the third had developed a tossing response, two more pigeons developed a pendulum motion in their head and body, and the last would do incomplete pecking or brushing movements directed towards but not touching the floor. None of the pigeons had shown these types of behaviors prior to the conditioning experiment, showing that their new behavior was not due to with them receiving food, but they behaved as if a certain action would produce the food, thus making them superstitious pigeons.