Deborah Buzan
Deborah Buzan Skinner is the daughter of B. F. Skinner, the well-known American behavioral psychologist from the middle and late 1900s. As an infant, Deborah Skinner spent most of her time in an “air crib,” which her father designed as a protective environment for newborns. Many believed, however, that the air crib negatively affected her mental health and relationship with her father. Although Deborah Skinner became a successful artist in London, the public has been more concerned with her childhood experiences and the way her father approached raising children.
Childhood
Buzan was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1944, and she grew up in a household with her father, her older sister, Julie, and her mother, Yvonne. When Julie was born, Yvonne Skinner struggled with the many dilemmas of parenthood, such as frequently changing the baby’s sheets and clothing and remedying diaper rashes and cradle cap. As a result, while awaiting Buzan’s birth, B.F. Skinner designed and created an air crib (or a “baby box”) as a sleeping and playing environment for his daughter. Skinner wanted to reduce his wife’s stress and create a better environment to raise their second daughter. He believed that the typical crib was not sufficient for the demands placed on housewives.
The air crib was a large box with a glass front that could be lowered to bring the baby in and out. It was also situated by a window so the baby could see outside, and it had no bars. The air crib had insulated walls and was warmer than the rest of the room it was situated in. The air crib was set to about 86 degrees Fahrenheit for Buzan’s first few months of life, and her father lowered the temperature as she grew older. B.F. Skinner explained that Buzan’s crying and fussing could often be stopped by slightly lowering the box’s temperature. This compartment often protected Buzan from airborne infections, dust, and allergic substances. The air crib also blocked out unwanted light and sounds. Buzan’s parents would frequently take her out of the air crib for meals, diaper-changing, and play. [1]
Due to the warm temperatures of the air crib, Buzan only wore a diaper and had no sheets or blankets when inside, which greatly reduced the amount of laundry for her mother to wash. This greatly lowered Yvonne Skinner’s stress levels, and it also increased the amount of time she could spend with her child. Buzan was not constricted and could freely move around the air crib. Her parents placed toys in the baby box that were suspended from the ceiling, such as a ring that she could pull with her feet that signaled music. These toys held her interest, and she was happy and active during waking hours.[1]
B.F. and Yvonne Skinner explained that Buzan never cried nor resisted being put back in the air crib. If she had, they would have let her stay out. Buzan slept in the baby box until she was almost three years old. After the first year, the air crib was mainly used as a place for Buzan to sleep, and she spent a fair amount of time in a playpen or in other areas outside of the baby box.
Buzan's Thoughts on Her Childhood
Later in life, Buzan contended that the air crib was safer than a normal baby crib. Buzan also thought that the baby box provided her with a protective sleeping and playing environment. She explained that although her father was a scientist, he did not put her in the air crib to study her behavior or conduct experiments on her. B.F. Skinner designed the invention to improve his daughter’s health and happiness and to reduce his wife’s stress. Buzan explained that she had a strong relationship with her father and a happy childhood.
Rumors
Many rumors spread about Buzan’s childhood and B.F. Skinner’s parenting techniques. Many believed that Buzan spent the first two years of her life permanently trapped in a windowless box. As a scientist, B.F. Skinner did many experiments where he put animals in Operant conditioning chamber to study them,[2] and some of his critics believed that he raised his daughter in a box so he could conduct experiments on her as well.
By the mid-1960s, the public believed that Buzan had become Psychosis from being raised in a box. It was rumored that she filed a lawsuit against her father and that she later committed suicide in a bowling alley in Billings, Montana.[1] Many people believed that Buzan was either dead or clinically psychotic, and people blamed these unfortunate outcomes on her father. These rumors even received the attention of psychological and psychoanalytic professionals. In Opening Skinner’s Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century, Lauren Slater explained that B.F. Skinner kept Buzan in a cramped cage with bells and food trays and conducted experiments that delivered rewards and punishments.[3] Slater’s coverage of Skinner’s air crib has been criticized for legitimizing the rumors about Buzan’s childhood.
Dispelling the Myths
After Slater published Opening Skinner’s Box, Buzan began addressing the rumors about her childhood. In 2004, Buzan published an article in The Guardian to clarify the public’s misconceptions about her life and her father’s parenting practices.[1] Annie Grossman also interviewed Buzan in a podcast in 2018. In these venues, Buzan explained that she had a happy childhood and a close relationship with her father. She claimed that she never filed a lawsuit against him and is not clinically psychotic. Additionally, she explained that her father never conducted experiments on her and that she never attempted to commit suicide. She loved her father, and he was devoted and affectionate. Buzan did state, though, that B.F. Skinner was not clear when explaining the air crib to the public, which allowed rumors to proliferate. She also argued that Lauren Slater was misinformed in Opening Skinner’s Box and that Slater did the Skinner family a “disservice” by spreading rumors about them. Many friends and colleagues read Slater’s book and asked Buzan if she truly sued her father or had a psychotic episode.
Education and Accomplishments
As a child, Buzan attended Woodstock Country School in South Woodstock, Vermont. As a teenager, she worked at the Sea Life Park Hawaii. Led by Karen Pryor, Sea Life Park used many of B.F. Skinner’s principles, including positive reinforcement and shaping of successive approximations, in its professional dog training courses.
Buzan graduated from Boston University in 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts in Art history. After graduation, she spent a year studying Mosaic in Florence, Italy. Subsequently, she moved to London and studied etching under Henry Wilkinson at the City and Guilds of London Art School. On March 12, 1973, Deborah Skinner married Barry Gordon Buzan. Their ceremony was held at the Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel in Hampstead, London. At the time of their wedding, Barry Buzan was studying political science and International relations at the London School of Economics. He later graduated with a doctorate of philosophy, and the couple moved to Vancouver, where Buzan worked at the Institute of International Relations at Vancouver University.
Deborah and her husband lived in London, and etching became her main career. She became a well-respected artist and sold many art pieces at galleries in both North America and Britain, and her creations have also been showcased in various solo and group shows. Her work has been included in many public collections, such as the Bank of America, Lloyds Bank International, and the Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Buzan, Deborah Skinner (2004-03-12). "I was not a lab rat". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
- ↑ Hardy., Leahey, Thomas (2001). A history of modern psychology. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-017573-0. OCLC 43657139.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ Slater, Lauren. Opening Skinner's Box : Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century. ISBN 978-1-4088-8312-9. OCLC 956525693.
External links
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