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An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.

B. F. Skinner

Does a poet create, originate, initiate the thing called a poem, or is his behavior merely the product of his genetic and environmental histories?
B. F. SKINNER

Creation Environment Himself History Poem Poet Production
Behavior is determined by its consequences.
B. F. SKINNER

Attitude Determination
I don’t believe in God, so I’m not afraid of dying.
B. F. SKINNER

Afraid Believe Death God Myself
To require a citizen to sign a loyalty oath is to destroy some of the loyalty he could otherwise claim, since any subsequent loyal behavior may then be attributed to the oath.
B. F. SKINNER

Attitude Citizenship Destroy Loyalty Promise
The mob rushes in where individuals fear to tread.
B. F. SKINNER

Army Battle Fear People
To say that behaviors have different ‘meanings’ is only another way of saying that they are controlled by different variables.
B. F. SKINNER

Control Deep Different Way
Do not intervene between a person and the consequences of their own behavior.
B. F. SKINNER

Attitude Judgement Person
That’s all teaching is; arranging contingencies which bring changes in behavior.
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Behavior Change Teaching Transformation
Somehow people get the idea I think we should be given gumdrops whenever we do anything of value.
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Ideas Myself People Thinking Value
We have seen that in certain respects operant reinforcement resembles the natural selection of evolutionary theory. Just as genetic characteristics which arise as mutations are selected or discarded by their consequences, so novel forms of behavior are selected or discarded through reinforcement.
B. F. SKINNER

Attitude Character Nature Novel Respect Seen Selection Theory
I’ve often said that my rats have taught me much more than I’ve taught them.
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Animal Learning Myself Teaching
Was putting a man on the moon actually easier than improving education in our public schools?
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Easy Education Improvement Men Moon School
A fourth-grade reader may be a sixth-grade mathematician. The grade is an administrative device which does violence to the nature of the developmental process.
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Development Mathematics Nature Process Reading Violence
Something doing every minute’ may be a gesture of despair-or the height of a battle against boredom.
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Action Battle Boredom
I may say that the only differences I expect to see revealed between the behavior of the rat and man (aside from enormous differences of complexity) lie in the field of verbal behavior.
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Difference Lying Men
Men build society and society builds men.
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Architect Build Men Society

An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.

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An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.

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