A central method was the [1] examination of functional relations between environment and behavior, as opposed to hypothetico-deductive learning theory[2] that had grown up in the comparative psychology of the 1920–1950 period.
It owed its early success to the effectiveness of Skinner's procedures of operant conditioning, both in the laboratory and in behavior therapy.
[citation needed] The most commonly used tool in animal behavioral research is the operant conditioning chamber—also known as a Skinner Box.
The interior of the chamber contains some type of device that serves the role of discriminative stimuli, at least one mechanism to measure the subject's behavior as a rate of response—such as a lever or key-peck switch—and a mechanism for the delivery of consequences—such as a food pellet dispenser or a token reinforcer such as an LED light.
Traditionally, its graphing mechanism has consisted of a rotating drum of paper equipped with a marking needle.
[citation needed] Laboratory methods employed in the experimental analysis of behavior are based upon B.F. Skinner's philosophy of radical behaviorism, which is premised upon:[citation needed] The idea that Skinner's position is anti-theoretical is probably inspired by the arguments he put forth in his article Are Theories of Learning Necessary?
These two texts represent considerable theoretical extensions of his basic laboratory work into the realms of political science, linguistics, sociology and others.