"What is skinnerbox?"---- PEH

A skinner box is the generic name for a construction designed to control variables available to the subject of psychological test or training activity.
The origin is the famous B.F. Skinner commonly credited with being the father of Behavior Modification. He was the major change from Freud in that he applied scientific observation and objective quantification ( read counting) to behavior analysis and training.
" skinner box " at one time had a negative connotation because Skinner made one for his daughter.... and people thought " scientist gone wild"... but the truth was that his daughter , as in infant, was very sensitive to temperature changes... and he built a temperature controlled crib for her... for the record she turned out just fine...
The purpose of a skinner box in training has to do with the speed at which rewards need to be provided to animals in order for them to associate pleasure with the behavior which one wants to teach... this time frame is typically less than one second... and if not timely the subject can be rewarded for spurious accidental behavior which simply happened at the time the reward arrived... For training purposes the reward needs to be applied each time the organism repeats the behavior... but to maximize the time which an animal will repeat the behavior Without being rewarded then one should change to a " variable rate schedule of reinforcment" ... the most common and powerful example of which is Gambling... even when you lose you keep thinking " next time"... and keep doing it....
I have no idea why the owner of this site used this word.

I bit the bullet today and bought a set of printed manuals. Now I can spend some quality time with them without having to turn on the computer. This further sets in stone my continuing relationship with the W123 diesels.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I actually grabbed the entirety of the skinnerbox site over the course of a couple of weeks (throttled downloads on a 56k modem suck). However, skinnerbox is actually missing some of the files.

I bought a FixITCDs copy. Aside from them 'missing' my order and never responding to my emails I'm quite happy with the product I finally got.

(It took a refund request through paypal before I got a quick apology for not sending my order and a prompt overnight shipment.)

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'84 300CD Turbo 132k (Anthracite Grey) - WVO - My daily driver - Recently named coo-coo-coupe by my daughter.
'84 300D Turbo 240k (Anthracite Grey) - Garage Queen
'83 300D Turbo 220k (Orient Red) - WVO - Wifes daily driver

I'm not a certified mechanic, but I did stay at a HolidayInn Express last night.