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1. What were the researchers trying to find out?
Burrhus Frederic (March 20, 1904-Aug 18, 1990) was an American behaviorist, inventor. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958-1974. Skinner called his brand of behaviorism “Radical” behaviorism. He believed that everything psychology is behaviorally driven.

2. Methodology
The methodology that Skinner used for his research was an experiment. He used the Skinner Box that consisted of a cage or box that is empty except for a dish tray into which food may be dispensed to experiment with pigeons and their behavior. Skinner Box is an apparatus for studying instrumental conditioning in animals (typically rats or pigeons) in which the animal is isolated and provided with a lever or switch that it learns to use to obtain a reward, such as a food pellet, or to avoid a punishment, such as an electric shock.

3. Results / Comclusion
The researcher found that “positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement operations may provide a more fertile condition for the development and maintenance of superstitious behaviors,” meaning that we are more likely to employ superstitious tactics to prevent worse outcomes than to create good outcomes. six out of eight cases the resulting responses were so clearly defined that two observers could agree perfectly in counting instances. One bird was conditioned to turn counterclockwise about the cage, making two or three turns between reinforcements. Another repeatedly thrust its head into one of the upper corners of the cage. A third developed a tossing response as if placing its head beneath an invisible bar and lifting it repeatedly. Two birds developed a pendulum motion of the head and body in which the head was extended forward and swung from right to left with a sharp movement followed by a somewhat slower return. The body generally followed the movement and a few steps might be taken 3 when it was extensive. Another bird was conditioned to make incomplete pecking or brushing movements directed toward but not touching the floor.

4. Significance
The importance of this study is that it showed how we may have come up with incorrect superstitions through operant conditioning.

5. Recent Application.
Skinner built on the behaviorist theories of Ivan Pavlov and John Watson as he studied the connection between stimuli and observable behavior in rats, which led to his eponymous Skinner box. With its levers and food pellets, the box allowed precise measurement and control of experimental conditions.

6. What I learned.
I learned that based on the results that none of these behaviors had been observed in the birds prior to the conditioning procedure. The new behavior had nothing to do with the pigeon receiving food. Nevertheless, they behaved as if a certain action would produce the food; that is, they became superstitious.