Skinner truly believed that an understanding of behavioral psychology would help people. He opposed coercion and felt that society could be guided in
a positive direction through the use of positive reinforcement. For
Skinner, society should seek friendship, good health, balance, pleasures,
and as little unpleasantness as possible along with satisfying curiosity
(Vargas, 2006).
Eventually, Skinner turned his attention to the educational process in
an attempt to improve the world around him and satisfy his own curiosity.
The story goes that Skinner attended his daughter's school for Father's Day
and observed a math class. During the course of this class, he became
aware that not all the student were learning at the same rate and that they
were not receiving immediate feedback, something that Skinner understood as
important through his studies with animals. Consequently, Skinner became
active in creating "programmed instruction". In this, a device would
assist a student to learn something by breaking down the sequence and
eventually...

Although Skinner spent years tweaking this device, it was not commercially successful due to
the lack of technology. However, the theories about how students learn
based on Skinner's observations are still used in education today (Vargas,
2006).
Skinner successfully combined a multitude of skills such as his
ability to write well and to create into his study of the human mind.
Skinner was clearly a hands-on learner. He reacted to the results of his
experiments which in many ways reinforces his own theories. Because he
functioned on a system of reacting to stimuli, he proved his own theories
about operant behavior time and again through his own work.

References
Boeree, C.G. (2006). Personality Theory: B.F. Skinner. Shippensburg
University. Retrieved
February 12, 2006, from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html
Vargas, J.S. (2006). A brief biography of B.F. Skinner. B.F. Skinner
Foundation. Retrieved
February 12, 2007, from http://www.bfskinner.org/briefbio.html