Of course there was one contemporary who did call Skinner 'Burrhus'; his long time (from grad school unto death) friend and colleague Fred Keller. Keller felt that since he was several years older he had priority on the name 'Fred', and thus referred to Skinner (even directly) as 'Burrhus'. But no one else did.
On Dec 17, 2009, at 3:58 AM, Allen Esterson wrote: > ���Michael Britt wrote on why Skinner preferred to be called > Fred: >> If I had a name like "Burrhus" I'd probably do the same thing. > > A rather more famous person (in the UK at least) had a similar > problem, > but resolved it differently. Chief Inspector Morse, of the Oxford > Criminal Investigation Department, insisted that people call him just > "Morse" (though on one occasion he told someone his first name was > "Inspector" – tee, hee!). For some reason he was bashful about > revealing that his name was Endeavour. > > http://www.itv.com/drama/copsandcrime/morseweekend/ > castandcharacters/default.html > > Allen Esterson > Former lecturer, Science Department > Southwark College, London > http://www.esterson.org > > -------------------------------------------- > Re: [tips] Who put the BF in Skinner? > Britt, Michael > Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:09:29 -0800 > If I had a name like "Burrhus" I'd probably do the same thing. > > Michael Britt > mich...@thepsychfiles.com > www.thepsychfiles.com > Twitter: mbritt > > On Dec 16, 2009, at 2:04 PM, Paul Brandon wrote: > > Besides, he never liked his given first name, and much preferred > 'Fred'. > Anecdote: > I got this story from C. B. (Charlie) Ferster; one of Skinner's first > grad students: Ferster (a frequent visitor at Skinner's home) once > walked into Skinner's living room to find Skinner seated on a sofa > with > a sign around his neck saying FRED. > > On Dec 16, 2009, at 12:29 PM, Jim Dougan wrote: > > At 12:22 PM 12/16/2009, you wrote: > > I could swear that your students will not know. Btw,why is he the > only behavioral scienist we address with his first two inititials? > We do not say P Brandon,C Green, S Black,or C Hull,so why the BF > Skinner? > Was there a Jaywalking episode where Jay Leno asked people what the > BF stands for in BF Skinner? > > I am told by my graduate advisor (F.K. McSweeney) that it is > something of a Harvard tradition to publish that way. Herrnstein > sometimes went as R.J. Herrnstein. Stevens went by S.S. Stevens, > etc. They are respectively called "Fran" Dick" and "Smitty" by > friends - but they published using initials. Of course, Skinner's > friends called him "Fred" so he does not break the pattern. > > Of course there is JER Staddon and MEP Seligman if we want to go to 3 > initials. > > -- J.D. Dougan > > Paul Brandon > Emeritus Professor of Psychology > Minnesota State University, Mankato > paul.bran...@mnsu.edu > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu) Paul Brandon Emeritus Professor of Psychology Minnesota State University, Mankato paul.bran...@mnsu.edu --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
