May 6, 2005

The Views of B.F. Skinner and Human Behavior

To the Editor:

While I appreciate David P. Barash's fine essays, I take exception to his latest ("B.F. Skinner, Revisited," The Chronicle Review, April 1). In it, he manages to misrepresent the views of not one but two giants of psychology, B.F. Skinner and John B. Watson. That's a pretty good trick.

According to Barash, both entirely reject genetic mechanisms and the role of evolution in behavior. He summarizes Skinner's supposed view by saying: "For Skinner and his disciples,