B.F. Skinner’s life, behaviourism, operant conditioning, and lasting impact on education, therapy and culture.
pvsmagazine.com/sword/b-f-sk...
#analysis #Behaviour #behaviourism #BurrhusFredericSkinner #empiricism #OperantConditioning #positivereinforcement #psychologist #Skinner #WaldenTwo
pvsmagazine.com/sword/b-f-sk...
#analysis #Behaviour #behaviourism #BurrhusFredericSkinner #empiricism #OperantConditioning #positivereinforcement #psychologist #Skinner #WaldenTwo
B. F. Skinner - Father Of Behaviourism Explained
B. F. Skinner invented operant conditioning and argued free will was an illusion. Why his ideas transformed psychology and why they still provoke fierce debate.
pvsmagazine.com
November 4, 2026 at 2:30 PM
B.F. Skinner’s life, behaviourism, operant conditioning, and lasting impact on education, therapy and culture.
pvsmagazine.com/sword/b-f-sk...
#analysis #Behaviour #behaviourism #BurrhusFredericSkinner #empiricism #OperantConditioning #positivereinforcement #psychologist #Skinner #WaldenTwo
pvsmagazine.com/sword/b-f-sk...
#analysis #Behaviour #behaviourism #BurrhusFredericSkinner #empiricism #OperantConditioning #positivereinforcement #psychologist #Skinner #WaldenTwo
Hinton's probably wrong, but this kind of cheap behaviourism will give you bad intuitions about the abilities and tendencies of these things.
Also, the idea that language is the star of the show here is outdated. "LLMs" are mostly multi-modal, and RLVF on math, coding, etc. is not about language.
Also, the idea that language is the star of the show here is outdated. "LLMs" are mostly multi-modal, and RLVF on math, coding, etc. is not about language.
November 6, 2026 at 4:27 AM
Hinton's probably wrong, but this kind of cheap behaviourism will give you bad intuitions about the abilities and tendencies of these things.
Also, the idea that language is the star of the show here is outdated. "LLMs" are mostly multi-modal, and RLVF on math, coding, etc. is not about language.
Also, the idea that language is the star of the show here is outdated. "LLMs" are mostly multi-modal, and RLVF on math, coding, etc. is not about language.
Some other aspects of "AI" also come across as naive behaviourism. The rejection of all aspects of software engineering (modulation, clean code, etc) about dealing with cognitive overload, for example.
November 5, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Some other aspects of "AI" also come across as naive behaviourism. The rejection of all aspects of software engineering (modulation, clean code, etc) about dealing with cognitive overload, for example.
in classic behaviourism literature they refer to this as a reward
October 28, 2026 at 3:39 PM
in classic behaviourism literature they refer to this as a reward
My introduction to Philosophy of Mind, one week in-person course next summer. lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/courses/phil...
Philosophy of Mind: The Basics - Oxford Lifelong Learning
Examine the relationship between mind and body, considering theories such as Descartes' dualism, panpsychism and behaviourism.
lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk
October 26, 2026 at 5:10 PM
My introduction to Philosophy of Mind, one week in-person course next summer. lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/courses/phil...
Behaviourism was mostly pretty Cartesian! Lots of them bought into Descartes's division of the world into mind and matter, and agreed that mind was beyond the scope of science! Some behaviourists even believed that this is why behaviourism fell apart as an enterprise
October 23, 2026 at 4:24 PM
Behaviourism was mostly pretty Cartesian! Lots of them bought into Descartes's division of the world into mind and matter, and agreed that mind was beyond the scope of science! Some behaviourists even believed that this is why behaviourism fell apart as an enterprise
A first follow-on post on behaviourism, sparked by a single-line comment I made on social media: Behaviour is the shadow of conditions. This post asks the question: If behaviour is shaped by conditions, why does the market keep buying interventions aimed at persons? thecynefin.co/map-dont-tra...
Map, don’t trace - The Cynefin Co
Whatever was required to be done, the Circumlocution Office was beforehand with all the public departments in the art of perceiving HOW NOT TO DO IT.
thecynefin.co
October 24, 2026 at 11:39 AM
A first follow-on post on behaviourism, sparked by a single-line comment I made on social media: Behaviour is the shadow of conditions. This post asks the question: If behaviour is shaped by conditions, why does the market keep buying interventions aimed at persons? thecynefin.co/map-dont-tra...
Conclusion: Its the behaviourism stupid.... So now what.
October 21, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Conclusion: Its the behaviourism stupid.... So now what.
The Audio Lingual Method caught my attention. Learning through repetition, drills, and reinforcement shows the influence of behaviourism. Repeat something enough times and maybe it stays in your head forever. It’s interesting how ideas about learning shaped the way languages were taught. #CATBL26
October 19, 2026 at 10:37 AM
The Audio Lingual Method caught my attention. Learning through repetition, drills, and reinforcement shows the influence of behaviourism. Repeat something enough times and maybe it stays in your head forever. It’s interesting how ideas about learning shaped the way languages were taught. #CATBL26
In my classes, I use things like self-determination theory, probability, combinatorial and Von Neumann game theory, economic theory, various psychographic models, a bit of behaviourism, Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow, rational game design, assorted taxonomies of kinds of "fun", choice poetics…
October 16, 2026 at 6:18 PM
In my classes, I use things like self-determination theory, probability, combinatorial and Von Neumann game theory, economic theory, various psychographic models, a bit of behaviourism, Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow, rational game design, assorted taxonomies of kinds of "fun", choice poetics…
Functionalism and the intentional stance have been hijacked in defence of philosophical behaviourism—a position that it’s doubtful any philosophers have ever held, but that is now the default assumption of tech bros everywhere.
October 10, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Functionalism and the intentional stance have been hijacked in defence of philosophical behaviourism—a position that it’s doubtful any philosophers have ever held, but that is now the default assumption of tech bros everywhere.
Input Output behaviourism has not been a popular view amongst philosophers for quite sometime unless it had a huge resurgence in the past 20 years.
October 10, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Input Output behaviourism has not been a popular view amongst philosophers for quite sometime unless it had a huge resurgence in the past 20 years.
it would be a real issue if lots and lots of autistic people didn‘t like behaviourism
good thing that’s not the case
good thing that’s not the case
October 9, 2026 at 2:36 PM
it would be a real issue if lots and lots of autistic people didn‘t like behaviourism
good thing that’s not the case
good thing that’s not the case
Behaviourism embedded in #AI.
"The methodology that today’s leading companies use to train their frontier models is called reinforcement learning. RL trains models to pursue objectives: they get rewards when they succeed and these behaviours are reinforced."
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
"The methodology that today’s leading companies use to train their frontier models is called reinforcement learning. RL trains models to pursue objectives: they get rewards when they succeed and these behaviours are reinforced."
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
The dangerous myth behind AI agent hacks
These are not simply cyber security flaws but problems with the way that models are trained
giftarticle.ft.com
October 6, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Behaviourism embedded in #AI.
"The methodology that today’s leading companies use to train their frontier models is called reinforcement learning. RL trains models to pursue objectives: they get rewards when they succeed and these behaviours are reinforced."
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
"The methodology that today’s leading companies use to train their frontier models is called reinforcement learning. RL trains models to pursue objectives: they get rewards when they succeed and these behaviours are reinforced."
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
I get that we are all suspicious of vulgar narratives of musical behaviourism but the Pavlovian power of the "tidy up song" really does give me pause sometimes
October 3, 2026 at 5:10 PM
I get that we are all suspicious of vulgar narratives of musical behaviourism but the Pavlovian power of the "tidy up song" really does give me pause sometimes
okay so this guy REALLY hates behaviourism
October 2, 2026 at 1:08 AM
okay so this guy REALLY hates behaviourism
Ivan talks about what is called in Behaviourism "entrainment" which he refers to pigeon training.
This is where you initially reward behaviour that generally approaches the behaviour you want (e.g. turning slightly left in a bird). Then you move to rewarding more and more specific behaviours
This is where you initially reward behaviour that generally approaches the behaviour you want (e.g. turning slightly left in a bird). Then you move to rewarding more and more specific behaviours
October 1, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Ivan talks about what is called in Behaviourism "entrainment" which he refers to pigeon training.
This is where you initially reward behaviour that generally approaches the behaviour you want (e.g. turning slightly left in a bird). Then you move to rewarding more and more specific behaviours
This is where you initially reward behaviour that generally approaches the behaviour you want (e.g. turning slightly left in a bird). Then you move to rewarding more and more specific behaviours
How, concretly, I do not want private details I am only curious about art and behaviourism.
September 28, 2026 at 12:57 PM
How, concretly, I do not want private details I am only curious about art and behaviourism.
talking about 'the player' like pavlov and the dogs, or skinner and his boxes. the goal of game design is behaviourism clearly
September 27, 2026 at 6:19 AM
talking about 'the player' like pavlov and the dogs, or skinner and his boxes. the goal of game design is behaviourism clearly
But even if you’re right, it’s not obvious that simulated cognition is cognition. That’s a substantive claim that requires further argument. AI boosters want to collapse the distinction between producing the right kind of outputs and having the right kind of mechanism. That’s a form of behaviourism.
September 25, 2026 at 5:47 PM
But even if you’re right, it’s not obvious that simulated cognition is cognition. That’s a substantive claim that requires further argument. AI boosters want to collapse the distinction between producing the right kind of outputs and having the right kind of mechanism. That’s a form of behaviourism.
Behaviourism ideologically isn't the same as behavioural psychology
September 23, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Behaviourism ideologically isn't the same as behavioural psychology
Classical like say skinnerian behaviourism rejects cognitivism. Behavioural psychology almost certainly never does.
September 23, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Classical like say skinnerian behaviourism rejects cognitivism. Behavioural psychology almost certainly never does.
Yes, indeed, "purposive behaviourism". I went on a big deep dive here on Tolman. philsci-archive.pitt.edu/24834
philsci-archive.pitt.edu
September 23, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Yes, indeed, "purposive behaviourism". I went on a big deep dive here on Tolman. philsci-archive.pitt.edu/24834