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COLLECTION Identifier: HUGFP 60.xx

Papers of Burrhus Frederic Skinner

Overview

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990), Harvard professor, made an indelible mark in the field of psychology. He was a strict behaviorist who championed the theory of operant conditioning. These papers document his professional life, research interests, and public reaction to his provocative ideas.

Dates

  • Creation: 1928-1979

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Permission of the archivists of the Harvard University Archives is required for viewing the Papers of B. F. Skinner.

Restrictions on Use

Permission of the archivists of the Harvard University Archives is required for photoduplication from the Papers of B. F. Skinnner; permission of a third party is required for publishing from the papers until 2015. For details, contact the reference staff of the Harvard University Archives.

Extent

28.7 cubic feet
82 boxes

Scope and Contents

These papers document Skinner's professional life, research, and public reaction to his provocative ideas. They provide a small amount of information on Skinner's personal life in the family photographs found in the Photographs series.

Additional Description

Abbreviated Biography of B. F. Skinner

Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990) was a strict behaviorist who championed the theory of operant conditioning. He made an indelible mark in the field of psychology with both his ideas and his audacious advocacy of them. Skinner earned his Harvard Ph.D. in 1931, and after teaching at the University of Minnesota and the University of Indiana, he returned to Harvard as a professor in 1948; he stayed at Harvard for the remainder of his career.

Series and Subseries in the Collection

  1. Biographical Material
  2. Correspondence
  3. Reaction to Skinner's Work
  4. Subject Files
  5. Teaching Machines
  6. Laboratory Data
  7. Writings
  8. Walden Two Correspondence
  9. Newspaper Clippings
  10. Photographs

Acquisition Information

  1. Accession 9674; 1983 March 2; received from B. F. Skinner
  2. Accession 9710; 1983 April 14; received from B. F. Skinner
  3. Accession 11013; 1987 January 15; received from Dennis Trumble

Related Material by B.F. Skinner in the Harvard University Archives:

  1. The concept of the reflex in the description of behavior, Ph.D. thesis, Harvard University, 1931 (HU 90.2228)
  2. Verbal behavior, New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts [1957] (HUC 5468.47)
  3. Particulars of my life, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1977, 1976(HUGB S485.53)
  4. Particulars of my life : part one of an autobiography, New York: New York University Press, 1984, 1976(HUGB S485.53.2)
  5. The shaping of a behaviorist : part two of an autobiography, New York: Knopf: distributed by Random House, 1979 (HUGB S485.54)
  6. The shaping of a behaviorist : part two of an autobiography, New York: New York University Press, 1984, 1979(HUGB S485.54.2)
  7. A matter of consequences : part three of an autobiography, New York: New York University Press, 1984, 1983(HUGB S485.55)
  8. Notebooks, edited with an introduction by Robert Epstein. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1980(HUGB S485.62)
  9. Additional photographs from the Papers of B.F. Skinner are found in HUGB S485.45.

See also books by and about B. F. Skinner cataloged in Harvard's on-line library information system.

Inventory update

This document last updated 2021 February 22.
Link to catalog

Related Names

Administrative Information

Title
Skinner, B. F. (Burrhus Frederic), 1904- Papers of Burrhus Frederic Skinner : an inventory
Author
Harvard University Archives
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hua05001

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Harvard University Archives Repository

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:hul.ois:HUA

Holding nearly four centuries of materials, the Harvard University Archives is the principal repository for the institutional records of Harvard University and the personal archives of Harvard faculty, as well as collections related to students, alumni, Harvard-affiliates and other associated topics. The collections document the intellectual, cultural, administrative and social life of Harvard and the influence of the University as it emerged across the globe.

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