Thoughts on Skinner's comments on Free Will:

When we consider the basic behavior of humans, I agree with Skinner in that free will is a myth. Human behavior is driven by external or internal forces that include social, spiritual/religious or physical. For example, at a young age most people were taught how to use an alarm clock. We were told that the primary purpose of using an alarm was to prepare for your upcoming day, hopefully on time. In the beginning, an individual relies heavily on an alarm clock but as the body and mind becomes more conditioned to hearing the sound, you follow a number of steps after the alarm goes off. You may hit the snooze, you get up, start to get ready for the day. In addition, our bodies, subconsciously of course, as our bodies become conditioned to waking up every day at 6 a.m. you start to wake up before your alarm, in anticipation. Humans are creatures of habit, and habits are triggered whether good or bad.

One key concept of behaviorism is the premise of stimuli and response. We can create certain conditions that prompt a response. Therefore, we can control how people behave in a variety of situations. This idea can be used to correct bad behavior, for example, an employee continuously arrives to work late. After 3 late appearances the manager docks the employees pay. Or, when putting your child to bed, if they listen to a music box, once the song is played the child knows it's time for bed. This concept can feel manipulative especially considering how Pavlov and Skinner performed their experiments but it does lead to, are our fears, routines, etc. taught responses.