My name is Burrhus Frederic Skinner.... I know, what a mouthful that name is. So you can call me B.F Skinner. 

I was born in Pennsylvania in 1904. 

I know that was wayyy too long ago. If I was still alive today I would be 121 years old!

I was always very fascinated about how animals and people learn.

I believe that behaviour can be studied scientifically without considering internal thoughts or feelings.

I initially wanted to become a writer, but once I discovered a man named John B Watson I was inspired to explore the vast world of psychology. Watson was studying observable behaviour and how environmental causes/stimuli can cause behaviours to change. He called this behaviourism.

I was further fascinated with psychology through the work of Ivan Petrovich Pavlov. He established how learning is directly linked to how stimuli can cause different behavioural responses. His discoveries were very intriguing....although I wanted to see if behaviour could also be influenced by consequences.

John B Watson's concept of behaviourism as behaviour being determined by environment, rewards, stimuli, and consequences, inspired me to continue on my own path of psychological discovery of behaviours. 

I began to spend countless hours conducting research and studying behaviourism. 

 I NEED to understand why people make certain choices and if there is anyway  to control decision making. 

Call me crazy, but what better way to learn about behaviours than to study pigeons and mice?

I am a genius!

I have designed and built a remarkable reward system to make animals do what I want!

I am going to call this the "Skinner box." 

Inside of the box, animals such as pigeons and mice, were taught to push a lever.  This was possible due to positive reinforcement;  

Push the lever = get a treat = "if I do what is being asked, something good then happens. Therefore I will push the lever because I know I will get tasty food in return."

I am now going to use my own discovery and create a little something called

  OPERANT CONDITIONING!

This means that we learn through receiving rewards, directly influencing our future choices and behaviours.