QuoteProject
The way positive reinforcement is carried out is more important than the amount.
B. F. Skinner
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Positive reinforcement is about the quality of encouragement rather than the quantity provided.

B. F. Skinner emphasizes that the effectiveness of positive reinforcement lies in how it is implemented rather than just how much is given. This suggests that thoughtful and well-timed encouragement can lead to better learning outcomes and behavioral changes compared to merely overwhelming individuals with rewards.

Themes

Positive ReinforcementLearningBehaviorEncouragementEducation

In practice

Example use cases

In a classroom setting, a teacher could use this quote when discussing behavior management strategies.

More from B. F. Skinner

We do not choose survival as a value, it chooses us.
B. F. SkinnerRead
Each of us has interests which conflict the interests of everybody else... 'everybody else' we call 'society'. It's a powerful opponent and it always wins. Oh, here and there an individual prevails for a while and gets what he wants. Sometimes he storms the culture of a society and changes it to his own advantage. But society wins in the long run, for it has the advantage of numbers and of age.
B. F. SkinnerRead
No theory changes what it is a theory about; man remains what he has always been.
B. F. SkinnerRead
I am opposed to the military use of animals. I am also opposed to the military use of men.
B. F. SkinnerRead
The ideal of behaviorism is to eliminate coercion: to apply controls by changing the environment in such a way as to reinforce the kind of behavior that benefits everyone.
B. F. SkinnerRead
Unable to understand how or why the person we see behaves as he does, we attribute his behavior to a person we cannot see, whose behavior we cannot explain either but about whom we are not inclined to ask questions.
B. F. SkinnerRead

Similar quotes

Mathematics consists in proving the most obvious thing in the least obvious way.
George PolyaRead
If you don't have the time to read, you don't have the time or the tools to write.
Stephen KingRead
Education in the true sense, of course, is an enablement to serve-both the living human community in its natural household or neighborhood and the precious cultural possessions that the living community inherits or should inherit.
Wendell BerryRead
Educating the world's poorest girls can only be done with the firm commitment of many stakeholders - both domestic and international - to plan, fund, and build strong, sustainable, and equitable education systems.
Julia GillardRead
American writer_x000D_ _x000D_ 1803-1882_x000D_ _x000D_ Play is our brain's favorite way of learning.
Diane AckermanRead
Beware of letting small faults pass unnoticed under the idea it is a little one. There are no little things in training children; all are important. Little weeds need plucking up as much as any. Leave them alone and they will soon be great.
J. C. RyleRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.