week 7 dq 1
Let me make myself
absolutely clear; I cannot stand Skinners work (Ghiselin, n.d.). It is
almost like putting a pressure bandage
on a gunshot (Hock, 2013). It is great for when the person is first hit through
the first aid station, to some type of makeshift MASH or ER. This is where the
patient can be stabilized, but after the patient cannot spend the rest of their
lives with a pressure bandage on the location and still function.
One of the things which
just annoys me to absolutely no end regarding both science and the field of psychology
are the facts that “hey lets reduce everything down to its base elements, get
down to just the most basic of one sentence or two sentence descriptions” when
it, in most human and scientific endeavors, is literally impossible to boil
everything down to just a couple facts.
In the story provided a
bully picks on a smaller weaker kid for lunch money. However the question is absolutely
parochial in its approach. It does not include a single word of the back story,
why the bully does it. Maybe for the bully that is the only food that person
will eat that day. Or maybe that bully comes from a family of bullies where the
bullying behavior is all the following “Classical conditioning terms include:
UCS (unconditioned stimulus), UCR (unconditioned response), NS (neutral
stimulus), CS (conditioned stimulus), CR (conditioned response). Operant
conditioning terms include positive reinforcers, and negative reinforcers, and
punishers.”(Ghirlanda,
& Enquist, 2019)The
kid being bullied also has zero background. No background exactly like
medicine, no background no contact for how to treat the patient. This question
is beyond impossible to responsibly answer. Only guess work can be done as to
why the bully does their actions and why the bullied does their actions.
Skinner took his work
directly from the absolutely worst parts of what the Prussian Empire wanted
regarding behavior control tools (Luciano, Valverde, & Catania, 2008).
Skinner and Wundt’s work are polar opposites, Wundt wanted to understand
thinking and how we move our bodies. Skinner only wanted to find ways to
control others (Tourinho, & Vichi, 2012). Up to and including torture to
force things to “do what I want, and you will face less punishment, than if you
do not do what I want.” But Skinners work is loved because of the instant
success in the very short term (Watson, 1925). But is ignored flat out when it
comes to long term issues. I am not a fan.
Dig into the participants
histories to find out more about why they are reacting the way they are. Plus as
a point of fact, if x is stealing from y have the police involved. Scared
straight will work, which will get CPS involved who will do an investigation to
find the history. Interview the parents of both, find out what is happening.
That is the only real solution. Have the bully pulled in to first the principal’s
office to have a chat, and if that does not work, have the bully arrested and
taken down town. CPS do interviews, and the like. Investigate the school to
find out why the teachers are watching a professional thief work instead of
preventing the items stolen.
I do not like boiling it
down to nothing then try to treat, it annoys me to absolutely no end.
References
Ghirlanda, S., & Enquist, M. (2019). On the role of responses in Pavlovian acquisition. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 45(1), 59–74. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1037/xan0000194
Ghiselin, M. T. (n.d.). BF Skinner and the Metaphysics of
Darwinism. Behavior Analyst, 41(1),
269–281. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1007/s40614-018-0139-8
Hock, R. R. (2013). Forty
studies that changed psychology (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html#class
Luciano, C., Valverde, M.
R., & Catania, A. C. (2008). Presentation to the series celebrating the
50th anniversary of the book Verbal Behavior, BF Skinner. International Journal of Psychology &
Psychological Therapy, 8(3),
275–276. Retrieved from https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2008-14516-001&site=eds-live&scope=site
Tourinho, E. Z., & Vichi, C. (2012). Behavioral-analytic research
of cultural selection and the complexity of cultural Phenomena. Revista Latinoamericana de Psicología, 44(1),
169–179. Retrieved from
https://search-ebscohost-com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=77052114&site=eds-live&scope=site
Watson, J. B. (1925).
Behaviorism. New York: People's Institute Publishing Company