Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Skinner, B.F.
     
Skinner, B.F.
(1904-90) a US psychologist (=a scientist who studies the way the human mind works) who developed the ideas of behaviourism. He did a lot of experiments, especially with animals, to see how they behave in certain situations and how they can be trained to change their behaviour. He also invented "programmed learning", a teaching method which influenced the way that languages and other subjects were taught in the 1970s, although most teachers now think that Skinner's method was wrong.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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