Pavlov's Dog Vs PETA (this could get ugly)

Today's blog is brought to you by the letters "B" and "F" and by the number "Skinner" ( I know that's not a number, but the metaphor was working too well). This Skinner fellow is another one of those Psychologist Theorist types who tries to explain why we do the things we do. That's a job I'd like to have: think about stuff all day that will explain why some people are messed up and why some people are lucky enough to be "normal"--I'd make a killing doing that. Suffice to say, Mr. B.F. Skinner is one of the lead philosophers behind Behaviorism. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have had any assignments due this week and could have slept in. Thanks a bunch.

Anyways, we educators are faced with the fact that Behavior has something to do with learning. It has been strongly argued that behaviors can be trained to reappear. There's the Pavlov's Dog study, where some Russian "scientist" decided to have some fun with his pet. He'd ring a bell and then serve his dog some food. He first tried to do this with a cat, but felines are independent and finicky. Pavlov's cat wouldn't commit to the research. Instead she'd either clean herself, walk around the bowl, or cough up a hairball. Pavlov had no choice but to eliminate her (he had to have something to feed his dog, after all). Pavlov's dog saw what happened to his fellow pet and decided to play along. After the bell-food served pattern was repeated, the dog would automatically salivate in anticipation of his food whenever it heard a bell. Pavlov ran out of cats to feed his dog, so he continued the experiment only using the bell. The dog probably caught on, but not wanting to end up like the cat, he took advantage of human stupidity and made Pavlov believe he was still expecting some food by salivating.

Now, what does this have to do with teaching? You don't know? Well shucks, neither do I. I was hoping you'd know. I guess it's back to the old Make-Something-Up-That-Sounds-Intelligent strategy.

In the 4th Grade I once sharpened my pencil and convinced another kid to sit down on it. I don't remember everything that happened, but I remember getting into BIG trouble. I never made another kid sit on a writing utensil ever again. I was (gasp) trained to not behave like that. Believe it or not, we're all trained. Don't believe me? Ladies, how many of you get all excited when you see some article of clothing on sale that you really want? All of you? Thanks. Men, how many of you roll your eyes as these ladies tell you every reason why you need to buy it for them? This works the other way around, but men usually want cooler stuff, like Legos, or Nerf guns, or a year's supply of bubble wrap. Now, do we see infants of the male or female gender behaving like the adults? No. Only until they reach the age of 2 and grasp the idea of "MINE! GIMME! GIMME! GIMME!" does the insanity take over.

Now, how am I, a teacher, going to use the fact that human beings can be trained . Answer? Very carefully if my plot to take over the world is to succeed. But until then, it's actually very simple. We'll call it the Good Idea/Bad Idea game. Good Idea: Turning in your Homework Completed and On Time for a Good Grade. Bad Idea: Turning in your Homework Incomplete and Late for a Bad Grade.

Isn't this fun? Let's go on.

Good Idea: Raising Your Hand When You Want to Say Something. Bad Idea: Raising the Finger in Between your Ring and Index Finger When you Want to Say Something.

One more? Ok.

Good Idea: Giving Heed to My Every Wish as Your Command. Bad Idea: Ignoring My Mandates, Making the Consequences Eternally Unfavorable for You.