Final answer:
Skinner believes that reinforcers, punishers, and stimuli provided by the social environment all play a role in shaping human behavior through operant conditioning.
Step-by-step explanation:
Skinner believes the social environment provides a variety of all of the above: reinforcers, punishers, and stimuli to help shape human behavior. B. F. Skinner was a prominent behaviorist who laid the foundation for operant conditioning, a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior. Through this mechanism, an individual makes an association between a particular behavior and a consequence (either a reinforcer or a punisher).
Skinner's operant conditioning includes the use of primary and secondary reinforcers to encourage desired behaviors. For instance, in Skinner's experiments with rats, food - a primary reinforcer because of its innate reinforcing qualities - was given to a rat when it pressed a lever, thus reinforcing the lever-pressing behavior. Additionally, Skinner acknowledged that punishment could also play a significant role in behavior modification by decreasing unwanted behaviors.
From Skinner's perspective, the social environment, through its myriad reinforcers and punishers, is central to the process of shaping human behavior. This includes the possibility of changes over time as social situations evolve, allowing for personality and behavior adjustments throughout a person's life.