Pennypacker H S
Department of Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611-2065.
Am Psychol. 1992 Nov;47(11):1491-8. doi: 10.1037//0003-066x.47.11.1491.
The legacy of B. F. Skinner's life is a natural science of behavior. The generality of its basic functional relations has led, by induction, to the unifying principle of selection by consequences, which accounts for morphological, behavioral, and cultural evolution. This principle both predicts and explains the observation that the science itself is becoming the object of differential selection in our culture. Public policy is increasingly being framed in terms of the effects of consequences on behavior, as illustrated by examples from education, economics, and politics. Survival of our culture may depend on our skill in managing this process.
B. F. 斯金纳一生的遗产是行为的自然科学。其基本功能关系的普遍性通过归纳法得出了后果选择的统一原则，这一原则解释了形态、行为和文化的进化。这一原则既预测又解释了这样一种观察结果：科学本身正在成为我们文化中差异选择的对象。公共政策越来越多地根据后果对行为的影响来制定，教育、经济和政治领域的例子都说明了这一点。我们文化的生存可能取决于我们管理这一过程的技能。
