🌽 Tuesday Sneak Peek!
Milk an Ear of Corn?
Yes, really. B.F. Skinner built a gadget for exactly that.
His daughter Julie Vargas explains: her mother made a corn pudding he loved — but the recipe was tedious, requiring each kernel to be sliced and scraped by hand. So Skinner did what Skinner did: he built a solution. Drag the cob over the nails, puncture the kernels, and "milk" them straight into a bowl. Julie does say: He probably didn’t invent it, per se, but he did make this particular version.
Please be advised that we at the Skinner Foundation make no claims regarding the safety of this device—Skinner was a risk-taker! 😂
Tune in every Tuesday this summer for a new invention sneak peek — the full exhibit drops this fall!
🗂️ Explore the archives: https://bfskinner.netx.net/portals/archives/ /home
B.F. Skinner Foundation
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The B. F. Skinner Foundation promotes the science founded by B. Skinner and supports the practices derived from that science.
In so doing, the Foundation advances a more humane world by replacing coercive techniques with positive procedures.
📅 It's the 25th — your monthly reminder about the B.F. Skinner Foundation Digital Archive!
Since its launch in fall 2025, the archive has been freely available to researchers, educators, students, and practitioners around the world.
▶️ Before you visit the site, take 80 seconds to read about it — this will walk you through each section of the archive so you know exactly what's inside. Original manuscripts, personal letters, historical photographs, audio and video recordings — it will give you a real sense of the depth and scope of this collection.
Once you've read it, head over to the archive and see it all for yourself.
It's a living connection to the ideas and discoveries that shaped behavior analytic science, and it belongs to all of us in the field.
👉 Explore the archive: http://bfskinnerarchives.org/
Please share with colleagues, students, or anyone with a passion for behavior analysis history!
🎵 Bonus Post!
Skinner's hearing aid had a secret second function: shaping YOUR behavior.
David Palmer met Skinner at the 1980 BABAT conference, saw him cup a hand behind his ear, and immediately began speaking more slowly, loudly, and clearly — never suspecting a thing. He left satisfied.
Only years later, reading Skinner's own Enjoy Old Age, did he find the passage: "Cup a hand behind an ear as a reminder."
A reminder to the OTHER person.
"Skinner had played me like a fiddle," Palmer recalled. The world's foremost expert on behavior modification was still at it — one cupped hand at a time.
Explore the archives: https://bfskinner.netx.net/portals/archives/ /home
👂 Tuesday Sneak Peek!
A coat hanger. Two plastic cups. And — somehow — a surprisingly effective hearing aid. 🎧
Before designer hearing aids, hard-of-hearing people cupped their hands behind their ears, held metal trumpets to their heads, or (if you were Eeyore) propped up your ears with your hind hooves. Skinner looked at that problem and asked: what if we just... freed up the hands?
The result? A looped coat hanger shaped to fit the head, with two plastic cups taped behind the ears — cheap, hands-free, and field-tested by his daughter Julie, who reported it works surprisingly well.
Only Skinner.
Want to see more? Check back each Tuesday this summer for another invention sneak peek — the full exhibit opens this fall! 🍂
Explore the archives now: https://bfskinner.netx.net/portals/archives/ /home
06/21/2026
"The whole idea is to design contingencies to encourage the behavior you want."
— B.F. Skinner
Skinner said this about parenting. And according to his daughter Julie, he meant it.
He built her a workbench. He let her sail solo. He told her the truth before a hard doctor's visit instead of a reassuring fib — and waited while she worked up the courage to go in. His science and his fatherhood were never separate things.
This Father's Day, we're honoring the dad behind the science.
Read Julie Vargas's moving reflection on what it was like to grow up as B.F. Skinner's daughter: https://www.bfskinner.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/OPERANTS_Q4_2014.pdf (page 15)
06/20/2026
Behavior analysis doesn’t stop at the classroom door, the clinic, or the lab—and neither does Skinner. If you notice something in your everyday environment that
reminds you of B. F. Skinner, or if you find yourself studying, teaching, or practicing behavior analysis out in the world, we want to see it.
📚🌍 From books on café tables and notes in the field, to contingencies shaping behavior in real time, Skinner is everywhere once you know how to look.
📸 Capture it. Get creative. Tell the story.
Take a photo that shows how behavior science shows up in your life—serious, playful, unexpected, or subtle.
👉 Share your photo on Facebook or Instagram and be sure to:
✅ Follow (Facebook) or .f.skinnerfoundation (Instagram)
✅ Tag BF Skinner Foundation in your post
✅ Use
Let’s highlight behavior analysis as it’s lived, practiced, and observed—out in the wild.
06/20/2026
Check out BF Skinner Foundation President, Judah Axe on the Functional Relations Podcast!
In this episode, Zach and Caleb discuss rethinking how we approach teaching tacts w/ Dr. Judah Axe.
Download on your favorite podcast app.
0.5 Ethics / 0.5 General CEU is available for this episode.
Become a member to get access to our entire library of CEs and access exclusive behind the scenes content for $79/yr.
Follow the link in our profile to learn more.
06/20/2026
In case you need something to listen to this weekend - always a treat to listen to Dave Palmer!
In the episode, Zach and Caleb discuss cultural selection and how it can be used to make improvements to your life with Dr. Dave Palmer.
Check out all the things going on at the B.F. Skinner Foundation: https://www.bfskinner.org/
Check out the links in our profile to purchase CEs or support us on Patreon!
🚨 JUNE FLASH SALE! 🚨
For a limited time, get 25% OFF all merchandise in the B.F. Skinner Foundation store! (Excludes books.)
Use code JUNE25 at checkout and stock up on your favorite Skinner gear!
Don't delay - online store goes into hibernation until our next fundraiser!
Shipping within the US only using Priority Mail by the United States Postal Service.
🛍️ Shop now: https://www.bfskinner.org/bookstore-2/
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