sponsible for his choices, which led him to a 364-year sentence.B.F. Skinner posited a personality theory that completely excluded the concept of “personality.” Skinner stated that through the exclusive study of environmental factors and a person’s response to these influences, behavior can be observed (Skinner, 1978). Therefore changes in an individual’s environment can drastically change their behavior (Engler 1999). David Berkowitz had a number of drastic changes befall his environment contributing to his psychotic behavior. Adoption, his mother’s death, and his father’s remarriage affected Berkowitz exponentially. Changes in his attitudes can actions can be clearly seen occurring during the stages of each environmental upset.Skinner coined the term reinforcement, one of his major contributions to behaviorism. Reinforcement is anything that increases the likelihood of a response (Corey 2001). Berkowitz was reinforced continually by the erotic feelings each killing elicited. The constant media attention and New York City’s fear of him was an even stronger reinforcement. Each of these positive reinforcers encouraged him to strike again, invoking fearful awe in the American public. For Berkowitz the killing began spontaneously as an operant behavior, however like Thorndyke’s Law of Effect, the pleasurable consequences led to the repetition of the behavior and its reinforcing nature (History and Systems *).Skinner’s contribution of Operant Conditioning is exhibited in David Berkowitz. Skinner believed that most human behavior is a result of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning involves the reinforcement of behaviors leading to a consequence (Engler 1999). Berkowitz was initially reinforced for his reclusive, solitary behavior by his parents who were similarly focused. His feelings of rejec...
