Mechanical Problem Box Designed by B. F. Skinner
name: label: maker
content: Gerbrands, Ralph
notes: label: Description
content: This is a mechanical problem box, part of a Skinner box designed for Fred S. Keller by B.F. Skinner in 1935 and used to study the behavior of rats. The brass lever has rounded end plugs to discourage gnawing. The food dispenser is a disc of black plastic, turned by the fall of a lead weight. The disk has two rings of holes - when one ring was emptied, a small adjustment opened the other (the adjustment is now missing). The escapement allows the disk to turn one step when the lever is pressed, but only if the wire arm is in the upper ready position. The arm is put in position from outside the apparatus by turning a thread (the thread is now lacking). The movement of the lever steps a ratchet which wound up the thread to a cumulative recorder. The recorder and thread are missing, but holes in the shaft bearing the ratchet indicate where it could be attached.
label: Description
content: Reference:
label: Description
content: B.F. Skinner, <I>The Shaping of a Behaviorist</I>, 1979, p. 167, 361.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Cambridge
topic: label: Subject
content: Psychology
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Teaching Machines
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Fred S. Keller
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0075.01
label: accession number
content: 1985.0075
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0075.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: problem box
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17 cm x 12 cm x 21.5 cm; 6 11/16 in x 4 23/32 in x 8 15/32 in