Skinner, B. F. (1904-1990), was an American psychologist. He was best known for his research into the learning process and his belief in a planned society. Skinner was a leading supporter of programmed instruction, in which the principles of learning determined in the laboratory are applied to classroom teaching. He was also known as a student of behavioural psychology, the study of the observable behaviour of human beings. 

Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He became interested in the work of the American behavioural psychologist John B. Watson and the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. 

In 1936, Skinner joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota. During World War II (1939-1945), Skinner designed his first "baby box," or Air Crib, a controlled environmental chamber for infants. From 1958 until 1975, Skinner was Edgar Pierce professor of psychology at Harvard University.