The Rise and D e c l i n e o f Behaviourism.
A New Horizons Review.
In Honour of A r t h u r K o e s t l e r .
Copyright.
New Horizons Research
April
1985.
Foundation
The R i s e and D e c l i n e o f B e h a v i o u r i s m .
Behaviourism o r B e h a v i o u r i s t i c Psychology i s a p a r t i c u l a r
t h e o r e t i c a l approach t o p s y c h o l o g y f i r s t put f o r w a r d by John
Broadus Watson i n 1913 w h i l e a p r o f e s s o r o f p s y c h o l o g y a t
John Hopkins U n i v e r s i t y .
I n h i s own words he "attempted t o
make a f r e s h s t a r t i n p s y c h o l o g y , b r e a k i n g w i t h both c u r r e n t t h e o r i e
and w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l concepts and t e r m i n o l o g y " .
Previously
p s y c h o l o g y had c o n c e n t r a t e d a t t e n t i o n on c o n s c i o u s n e s s and
mental phenomena as p e r c e i v e d v i a " s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s " , i . e .
by i n t r o s p e c t i o n .
A c c o r d i n g t o Watson c o n c l u s i o n s reached
by such means would be e s s e n t i a l l y " s u b j e c t i v e " and c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y
would l a c k o b j e c t i v i t y — thus they c o u l d n o t c o n t r i b u t e t o
r e l i a b l e s c i e n t i f i c knowledge.
Watson t h e r e f o r e sought t o
make p s y c h o l o g y "a p u r e l y o b j e c t i v e e x p e r i m e n t a l branch o f
natural science".
Only one way o f a c h i e v i n g t h i s aim o c c u r r e d t o Watson.
That was t o r e s t r i c t both the t h e o r e t i c a l range and scope
of p s y c h o l o g y and a l s o i t s r e p e r t o i r e o f admissable methods o f
study.
As r e g a r d s the c o n c e p t u a l framework, "The time seems
to have come" s a i d Watson, "when p s y c h o l o g y must d i s c a r d a l l
r e f e r e n c e t o c o n s c i o u s n e s s ...." ( P s y c h o l o g i c a l Review, 20,
p. 163, 1913).
Looked a t i n i s o l a t i o n t h i s p r o p o s a l seems
b i z a r r e enough t o j u s t i f y the s a t i r i c d e s c r i p t i o n o f
b e h a v i o u r i s t i c p s y c h o l o g y as the "unique s c i e n c e " -- the o n l y
d i s c i p l i n e t h a t s t a r t s out by denying the e x i s t e n c e o f i t s
subject matter!
However, l o o k e d a t i n the c o n t e x t o f i t s
time, the dictum i s more u n d e r s t a n d a b l e as a m a n i f e s t a t i o n
of the Z e i t g e i s t .
The m e c h a n i s t - m a t e r i a l i s t p h i l o s o p h y
s t a r t e d i n the 17th c e n t u r y w i t h D e s c a r t e s , who d e c l a r e d
a n i m a l s t o be machines — thus encouraging v i v i s e c t i o n and
European c a l l o u s n e s s i n r e g a r d t o animal s u f f e r i n g .
Ke was
f o l l o w e d by Hobbes i n England, and i n 18th c e n t u r y France
by m a t e r i a l i s t s such as de L a m e t t r i e who wrote a book e n t i t l e d
Man, a Machine.
The m e c h a n i s t i c approach made even g r e a t e r headway
d u r i n g the 19th c e n t u r y . Thus, by the time t h a t Watson put
f o r w a r d h i s t h e s i s i t was p o s s i b l e t o m a i n t a i n t h a t mind and
c o n s c i o u s n e s s were merely "epiphenomena".
I n the U.S.A.
t h i s o u t l o o k r e c e i v e d support ( p r o b a b l y u n i n t e n t i o n a l ) from
p h i l o s o p h i c a l p s y c h o l o g i s t s who i n the p e r i o d 1900-1911
a n t i c i p a t e d Watson i n c a l l i n g i n q u e s t i o n both the s c i e n t i f i c
u t i l i t y o f the concept o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s , and the p o s s i b i l i t y
of r e l i a b l y o b s e r v i n g i t . T h i s i s i n l i n e w i t h r e l a t e d
2
19th and 20th c e n t u r y v i e w p o i n t s which c l a i m e d t h a t s c i e n t i f i c
concepts and t h e o r i e s are o n l y o f v a l u e i n so f a r as they
enable a c c u r a t e p r e d i c t i o n s t c be made — i . e . the g o a l o f
s c i e n c e i s t o enable p r e d i c t i o n and n o t u n d e r s t a n d i n g . T h i s
p o i n t o f v i e w i s r e l a t e d to p o s i t i v i s m and o p e r a t i o n a l i s m as
described l a t e r .
The e x p u l s i o n o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s l e f t o n l y one t h i n g f o r
a Watsonian to observe — b e h a v i o u r . T h i s would be Watson's
answer, and by no means a t o t a l l y inadequate one, to the j i b e
about d e n i a l o f h i s s u b j e c t - m a t t e r , f o r the s u b j e c t - m a t t e r
a c c o r d i n g to him was b e h a v i o u r viewed o b j e c t i v e l y w i t h o u t
a t t e m p t i n g to a s c e r t a i n f e e l i n g s , i n t e n t i o n s , o r d e s i r e s .
O b j e c t i v e study c o n s i s t e d i n p e r f o r m i n g experiments i n which
the b e h a v i o u r was viewed e n t i r e l y e x t e r n a l l y .
In a t y p i c a l
b e h a v i o u r i s t experiment a s t i m u l u s S was a p p l i e d t o an i n d i v i d u a l
whose response R was r e c o r d e d . The b e h a v i o u r i s t s , whose
heyday was from 1913 u n t i l about 19^5» sought to a s c e r t a i n
"such data and laws t h a t , g i v e n the s t i m u l u s , p s y c h o l o g y can
p r e d i c t what the response w i l l be; o r .... g i v e n the response
i t can s p e c i f y the .... s t i m u l u s " .
I n a sense t h e i r program
was n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y o r i g i n a l ;
i t f o l l o w e d methods o f
a n i m a l p s y c h o l o c y t h a t had a l r e a d y (from I898) been developed,
p a r t i c u l a r l y i n the U.S.A.
Because the d i f f i c u l t y o f communication between man
and a n i m a l l i m i t s the a v a i l a b i l i t y o f i n f o r m a t i o n as to the
a n i m a l ' s i n t r o s p e c t i o n o f i t s e l f , a b e h a v i o u r i s t approach to
a n i m a l p s y c h o l o g y i s , i n the f i r s t i n s t a n c e a t l e a s t , almost
i n e v i t a b l e . I t c o u l d i n f a c t be c l a i m e d t h a t the animal
p s y c h o l o g i s t who adopts b e h a v i o u r i s m as h i s t h e o r e t i c a l p o i n t
o f d e p a r t u r e i s merely making a v i r t u e o f n e c e s s i t y .
Had
the b e h a v i o u r i s t s s p e c i f i e d t h e i r method as s u i t a b l e c h i e f l y
i n r e l a t i o n to a n i m a l b e h a v i o u r t h e i r i n f l u e n c e would have been
relatively slight.
However Watson and h i s f o l l o w e r s b o l d l y
p r e s c r i b e d the methods o f a n i m a l p s y c h o l o g y as a p p r o p r i a t e
to the s t u d y o f man.
One consequence has been the dominance
of " r a t p s y c h o l o g y " i n a m a j o r i t y o f p s y c h o l o g y departments,
e s p e c i a l l y i n N o r t h America, w i t h a r e s u l t a n t r e l a t i v e n e g l e c t
of the s p e c i f i c a l l y human.
However c l a s s i c a l B e h a v i o u r i s m l e d t o many o t h e r
a b b e r r a t i o n s and i n t e l l e c t u a l o d d i t i e s . Foremost i s the
assumption made by Watson t h a t an i n d i v i d u a l ' s response to
a complex s t i m u l u s can be a n a l y z e d i n t o a number o f simple
responses to the s i m p l e s t i m u l i i n t o which (so i±:is a s s e r t e d )
the complex s t i m u l u s can be a n a l y z e d .
E x p e r i e n c e has shown
that t h i s i s h i g h l y debatable;
i n the words o f Sigmund
Koch, "The problems thereby r a i s e d have plagued a l l o t h e r
behaviourist writers".
I t w i l l be seen t h a t B e h a v i o u r i s m tends to reduce the
i n d i v i d u a l to a " b l a c k box", c o n t e n t s unknown, which c o n v e r t s
i n p u t , i . e . s t i m u l u s , i n t o output, i . e . response.
Consistently
w i t h t h i s p o i n t of v i e w Watson would argue t h a t to say t h a t the
i n d i v i d u a l "sees" red o r green adds n o t h i n g m a t e r i a l to a
d e s c r i p t i o n of h i s behaviour at a t r a f f i c l i g h t .
This p o s i t i o n
has, o f c o u r s e , been s e v e r e l y c r i t i c i z e d by n o n - b e h a v i o u r i s t s
e v e r s i n c e 1913.
However i t i s i n a way more i n t e r e s t i n g to
note t h a t even Watson (somewhat i n c o n s i s t e n t l y w i t h the
" b l a c k box" approach) deemed i t a d v i s a b l e to make some
concessions and produced a v e r y c u r i o u s t h e o r y o f thought
processes.
He c l a i m e d t h a t , f o r example, h a v i n g l e a r n e d
t o say the word " l i g h t " on s e e i n g a l i g h t e d lamp, on each
subsequent o c c a s i o n when the i n d i v i d u a l sees a lamp, o r i s reminded
o f the e x i s t e n c e o f lamps, t h e r e o c c u r s a " f a i n t r e i n s t a t e m e n t "
o f the o r i g i n a l m u s c u l a r c o n t r a c t i o n s t h a t o c c u r r e d on f i r s t
s a y i n g the word " l i g h t " .
W h i l e Watson d i d not i n f a c t say (as he was accused o f
doing) t h a t thought i_s a m u s c u l a r c o n t r a c t i o n o r a "subvocal
t a l k i n g " , he d i d a s s e r t t h a t every thought i s " r e p r e s e n t e d "
by a m u s c u l a r change even i f o n l y a minute one.
Chains o f
thought were d e s c r i b e d by Watson as i n v o l v i n g a s e r i e s o f
f a i n t m u s c u l a r c o n t r a c t i o n s , each b e i n g a response to the
p r e c e d i n g one and a s t i m u l u s w i t h r e s p e c t to i t s successor.
I t i s h a r d to see how t h i s t h e o r y i s s u p e r i o r to one
which r e g a r d e d thought as h a v i n g " r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s " i n the
form o f neuro n i c events i n the b r a i n .
Presumably Watson
p r e f e r r e d i t because i t kept more c l o s e l y to the simple
( s i m p l i s t i c ? ) s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e paradigm.
Watson's idea
t h a t m e n t a l e v e n t s are i n a one-one correspondence w i t h
m u s c u l a r c o n t r a c t i o n s r a t h e r than c e r e b r a l e v e n t s i s c a l l e d
"peripheralism".
S i m i l a r l y Watson a s s o c i a t e d f e e l i n g s and
emotions w i t h p e r i p h e r a l e v e n t s i n the body, e s p e c i a l l y i n
"the v i s c e r a l and g l a n d u l a r systems".
The c h i e f weaknesses
o f p e r i p h e r a l i s m would seem to be (a) the a r b i t r a r i n e s s of
s u b s t i t u t i n g p e r i p h e r a l e v e n t s f o r b r a i n events, and (b)
a l a c k o f e m p e r i c a l evidence i n i t s f a v o u r .
I t was these
g l o s s e s i n t r o d u c e d by B e h a v i o u r i s t s themselves, r a t h e r than
t h e i r b l u e p r i n t f o r p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h , t h a t prompted
P r o f e s s o r C D . Broad's remark to the e f f e c t t h a t B e h a v i o u r i s m
was an i d e a system so s i l l y t h a t i t c o u l d o n l y have been p u t
forward by v e r y l e a r n e d men.
( B e r t r a n d R u s s e l l , i t might be
n o t e d , condemned B e h a v i o u r i s m i n a manner, l e s s a p h o r i s t i c ,
but e q u a l l y f o r t h r i g h t ) . The p e r i p h e r a l i s m e p i s o d e i s
i n t e r e s t i n g i n i t s e l f from t h e p o i n t o f v i e w o f s c i e n t i f i c
logic.
In r e t r o s p e c t i t would seem t h a t B e h a v i o u r i s t s would
have been w i s e r t o have a b j u r e d the t e m p t a t i o n t o r e s o r t t o
e x p l a n a t i o n . The s t r o n g p o i n t o f t h e i r method was t h a t i n
an o b j e c t i v e way t h e y c o u l d c o r r e l a t e stimulus.,with response
without e n q u i r i n g i n t o intermediate l i n k s i n the causal
chain.
However by e x p e l l i n g c o n s c i o u s n e s s from p s y c h o l o g y ,
B e h a v i o u r i s m rendered meaningless c e r t a i n problems such as
the n a t u r e o f s e n s a t i o n and p e r c e p t i o n , which p r e v i o u s l y
had been regarded as a p p r o p r i a t e q u e s t i o n s f o r p s y c h o l o g i s t s
t o examine.
I n consequence B e h a v i o u r i s m concerned i t s e l f
with a r a t h e r r e s t r i c t e d f i e l d o f enquiry.
In f a c t i t
contracted i t s e l f to w i t h i n the confines o f a s i n g l e d i s c i p l i n e
— r e s e a r c h i n t o t h e p r o c e s s e s o f l e a r n i n g . T h i s was due i n
p a r t t o t h e r e l a t i v e s i m p l i c i t y o f l e a r n i n g experiments i n
a n i m a l s o r i n i n f a n t s , and i n p a r t t o t h e c o n v e n i e n t manner
whereby an a p p r o p r i a t e l y b e h a v i o u r i s t
stimulus-response
t h e o r y o f l e a r n i n g c o u l d be based on t h e idea o f the
" c o n d i t i o n e d r e f l e x " as e n u n c i a t e d i n I863 by Ivan Sechenov
i n R u s s i a and demonstrated i n the case o f k n e e - j e r k s i n
humans by E.B. Twitmyer i n t h e U.S.A. i n 1902. C o i n c i d e n t
w i t h Watson's m a n i f e s t o o f 1913 t h e i d e a o f c o n d i t i o n i n g
became known, i n the U.S.A. through a book by V.K. Bekhterev
who i n s p i r e d the work o f the e v e n t u a l l y more famous P a v l o v .
A c c o r d i n g t o t h e b e h a v i o u r i s t s a l l l e a r n i n g was
e s s e n t i a l l y c o n d i t i o n i n g . Thus i f the word " l i g h t " i s s a i d
e v e r y time an i n f a n t i s shown a l i g h t , then e v e n t u a l l y a
response as i f t o an a c t u a l l i g h t w i l l be produced by merely
h e a r i n g t h e word.
The emphasis on s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e d e t e r m i n i s m and on
l e a r n i n g as c o n d i t i o n i n g was d o u b t l e s s one o f the f a c t o r s t h a t
l e d Watson t o deny t h e e x i s t e n c e o f i n s t i n c t , i . e . i n b o r n
p a t t e r n s o f b e h a v i o u r and t h i n k i n g , and t o make t h e sweeping
statement t h a t "there i s no such t h i n g as an i n h e r i t a n c e o f
c a p a c i t y , t a l e n t , temperament, mental c o n s t i t u t i o n , and
characteristics".
B e h a v i o u r i s t t h e o r y i n t h e p e r i o d 1930-19^5 i s sometimes
c a l l e d Neobehaviourism, b u t t h i s does n o t b e t o k e n any
s e r i o u s r e f o r m a t i o n o f the b e h a v i o u r i s t p h i l o s o p h y o t h e r than
v a r i o u s r a t h e r i n e s s e n t i a l changes such as the f o l l o w i n g .
C l a r k L. HsJll and E.C. Tolman i n t r o d u c e d v a r i o u s concepts,
each r e p r e s e n t i n g some i n f e r r e d p r o c e s s w i t h i n the i n d i v i d u a l
and i n t e r v e n i n g between the s t i m u l u s and the response.
Hall
a l s o developed the n o t i o n o f r e i n f o r c e m e n t ( d e r i v e d from the
"Law o f E f f e c t " e n u n c i a t e d by the B r i t i s h p s y c h o l o g i s t E.L.
Thomdyke i n I 8 9 8 ) .
Reinforcement i s the s t r e n g t h e n i n g o f
a s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e c o n n e c t i o n by a p l e a s a n t concomitant
e x p e r i e n c e , and i t s weakening when the e x p e r i e n c e i s an
u n c o m f o r t a b l e one.
Otherwise i n t h e i r g e n e r a l a t t i t u d e s
N e o b e h a v i o u r i s t s r e p r e s e n t e d an i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n and f u r t h e r
e x a g g e r a t i o n o f Watsonian i d e a s .
P s y c h o l o g y , a c c o r d i n g to
H u l l and h i s f o l l o w e r s a t Y a l e ought t o conform t o the
" h y p o t h e s i s t e s t i n g " canon s e t up f o r s c i e n c e by the l o g i c a l
p o s i t i v i s t s such as Carnap, and the " o p e r a t i o n a l " p r e s c r i p t i o n
f o r p h y s i c s advocated by Bridgeman, which was descended i n
p a r t from E r n s t Mach's " e m p i r i o - c r i t i c i s m " and encouraged by the
c o n c e p t u a l d i f f i c u l t i e s r a i s e d by quantum t h e o r y , as we
explain later.
Neobehaviourism went a l s o beyond B e h a v i o u r i s m i n t h a t
i t sought t o extend to humans n o t merely the methods o f
l a b o r a t o r y a n i m a l p s y c h o l o g y b u t the laws o f a n i m a l b e h a v i o u r ,
w h i l e f a i l i n g to a l l o w both f o r the p o s s i b l e e f f e c t s o f
b i o l o g i c a l d i f f e r e n c e s and the r e l a t i v e l a c k o f e x p e r i m e n t a l
data on humans.
B e h a v i o u r i s m i n i t s o l d and new forms t o t a l l y
dominated academic p s y c h o l o g y u n t i l the 1 9 ^ 0 ' s . A l t h o u g h ,
t h i r t y years a f t e r , Behaviourism i s s t i l l extremely strong
i n u n i v e r s i t i e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y those o f N o r t h America, i t has
l o s t i t s a b s o l u t e hogemony i n modern p s y c h o l o g i c a l t h i n k i n g .
T h i s may be a s c r i b e d t o the f o l l o w i n g f a c t o r s .
1.
The f a i l u r e o f B e h a v i o u r i s m to s u c c e s s f u l l y a n a l y z e
a l l responses i n t o simple c h a i n s o r aggregates o f s t i m u l u s response c o n n e c t i o n s .
C o r r e s p o n d i n g l y i n t e r e s t had been
aroused as f o l l o w s : (a) by G e s t a l t p s y c h o l o g y which showed t h a t the organism
seemed o f t e n t o respond t o a t o t a l s i t u a t i o n r a t h e r than i n
an " a t o m i s t i c " way. ( G e s t a l t p s y c h o l o g y anteceded Watson, and
was among the s c h o o l s r e j e c t e d by him).
(b) G e s t a l t p s y c h o l o g y had i t s p h i l o s p h i c a l c o u n t e r p a r t
i n " h o l i s m " which s t r e s s e d the f u n c t i o n i n g o f i n t e r c o n n e c t e d
systems -- " h o l o n s " .
(c) h o l i s m had i t s a n a l y t i c c o u n t e r p a r t i n systems
a n a l y s i s , c y b e r n e t i c s , feedback, and c o n t r o l t h e o r y , which
p r o v i d e d more c o n v i n c i n g d e s c r i p t i o n s o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l e v e n t s
than d i d a t o m i s t i c s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e dogmas.
(d) e t h o l o g y -- the study o f the e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y complex
b e h a v i o u r o f a n i m a l s i n the w i l d .
2.
The inadequacy o f the
a r e a s o f p s y c h o l o g y — the
s e n s a t i o n , p e r c e p t i o n , and
various f i e l d s of research
b l a c k box approach i n r e g a r d to l a r g e
n a t u r e and mode o f occurrence o f
reasoning.
T h i s was emphasized by
such as
(a) G e s t a l t and v i s u a l p e r c e p t i o n i n b o t h humans and
animals.
(b) the d e m o n s t r a t i o n o f p r o c e s s e s o f c o n s c i o u s r e a s o n i n g
and m e n t a l problem s o l v i n g i n h i g h e r a n i m a l s such as apes,
c a t s , e t c . by K o h l e r and o t h e r s .
(c) e t h o l o g y -- animal b e h a v i o u r i n n a t u r e as opposed
t o a r t i f i c i a l s i t u a t i o n s i n the l a b o r a t o r y — i n mazes o r
" S k i n n e r boxes" (named f o r the i n f l u e n t i a l B e h a v i o u r i s t
B.P. S k i n n e r , who became the Moses to Watson's Jehovah).
The " S k i n n e r box" i s n o t to be confused w i t h the " b l a c k box"
d e s c r i p t i o n o f an organism.
( A c t u a l l y the " b l a c k box"
metaphor r e l a t e s o n l y to the p e r i o d o f modern e l e c t r o n i c s ,
ca . 1950 onwards).
3.
The b e h a v i o u r i s t d e n i a l o f i n s t i n c t o r i n n a t e components
of behaviour patterns.
T h i s was c o n t r a d i c t e d
(a) by e t h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h e s p e c i a l l y through
f i n d i n g s o f Tinbergen, von F r i s c h and Lorenz.
the
(b) by p s y c h o a n a l y s i s -- i r r e s p e c t i v e o f the c o r r e c t n e s s
o f a l l F r e u d i a n t h e o r i e s , the f a c t remains t h a t F r e u d i a n s have
u n e q u i v o c a l l y demonstrated the e x i s t e n c e and c o m p l e x i t y o f
i n s t i n c i t v e behaviour p a t t e r n s .
4.
R e p u d i a t i o n o f the p o s i t i v i s t o r o p e r a t i o n a l view o f
s c i e n c e as b e i n g concerned o n l y w i t h p r e d i c t i o n and n o t w i t h
u n d e r s t a n d i n g and i n s i g h t .
( T h i s r e b e l l i o n has been o f
widespread provenance and n o t r e s t r i c t e d to p s y c h o l o g y ) .
5.
The r i s e o f H u m a n i s t i c P s y c h o l o g y which, amongst o t h e r
t h i n g s , has r e a f f i r m e d the v a l u e o f s u b j e c t i v e e x p e r i e n c e and
the d e s i r a b i l i t y o f a t t e m p t i n g an o b j e c t i v e study o f such
experience.
I f we seek to a s s e s s the moral and s o c i a l e f f e c t s o f
B e h a v i o u r i s m the r e s u l t must i n e v i t a b l y , as w i t h most s i n c e r e l y
m o t i v a t e d i n t e l l e c t u a l v e n t u r e s , be a mixed b a l a n c e sheet
o f good and bad i t e m s . I t would be t e m p t i n g b u t u n f a i r to
blame B e h a v i o u r i s m f o r the volume and i n t e n s i t y o f a g g r e s s i v e
a d v e r t i z i n g with i t s f a i t h i n r e p e t i t i o u s presentation of
p i c t u r e s , brand names and s l o g a n s .
These developments can
be a d e q u a t e l y e x p l a i n e d as r e s u l t i n g by n a t u r a l e v o l u t i o n from
the needs o f c o m p e t i t i v e commercialism and the t e c h n o l o g i c a l
advances i n communication and mass media.*
However i t i s
p o s s i b l e t h a t the t h e o r y o f a d v e r t i z i n g and the f a i t h o f
a d v e r t i z e r s have a c q u i r e d i n c r e a s e d c o n f i d e n c e from b e h a v i o u r i s t
d e m o n s t r a t i o n s o f the e f f i c a c y o f " r e i n f o r c e m e n t " .
Information
as to what i s a c t u a l l y taught i n t r a i n i n g courses f o r i n t e n d i n g
a d v e r t i z e r s would be u s e f u l i n f o r m i n g a judgement.
The sensory bombardment by a d v e r t i s e m e n t s o f a l l k i n d s ,
w h i l e v e r y i r r i t a t i n g to many, may, so l o n g as m o n o p o l i s t i c
p r a c t i c e s are a v o i d e d , be n o t e s p e c i a l l y h a r m f u l , and indeed
e n d u r a b l e , as p a r t o f the p r i c e to be p a i d f o r what, by and
l a r g e , c o n s t i t u t e s the o n l y k i n d o f freedom y e t a v a i l a b l e .
What may be f e l t as more s i n i s t e r however i s the contemporary
a p p l i c a t i o n o f mass media a d v e r t i z i n g to p o l i t i c s .
The use
o f s l o g a n s , o v e r s i m p l i f i e d arguements, and a g g r e s s i v e r e i t e r a t i o n
a r e , o f c o u r s e , n o t themselves new.
The " s e l l i n g " o r "packaging"
o f American P r e s i d e n t s , f o r example, s t a r t e d a t l e a s t w i t h t h a t
o f Andrew J a c k s o n i n 1828.
The custom o f d e n i g r a t i n g one's
opponents by r e p e a t e d a c c u s a t i o n s o f v i l l a i n y and incompetence
was n o t i n v e n t e d by such g r e a t p r a c t i t i o n e r s as L e n i n o r H i t l e r ,
o r even by M a r t i n Van Buren and the managers o f Andrew Jackson's
e l e c t o r a l campaign? i t i s a t l e a s t as o l d as Demosthenes o f
ancoent Athens.
I n t o t a l i t a r i a n c o u n t r i e s , whether o f the l e f t o r o f
the r i g h t , the r e s u l t s o f c o n d i t i o n i n g by m o n o p o l i s t i c a l l y
p r e s e n t e d slogans and c a t c h p h r a s e s would seem to have been
o f c o n s i d e r a b l e e f f e c t p e r se even i f they had n o t been
backed up by t e r r o r .
The p r o c e s s , as one would expect,
seems t o have most n e a r l y a t t a i n e d consummation i n the homeland
o f Sechenov, B e k h t e r e v, and P a v l o v , where a t the p r e s e n t time
i t seems t h a t ( d e s p i t e the Sakharov and o t h e r d i s s i d e n t s ) t h e r e
i s no r e a l o r widespread d i s s e n t o r n o n - c o n f o r m i t y .
I n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n i t may be r e c a l l e d t h a t by d i n t o f
vehement statement and r e p e t i t i o n the N a z i s i n Germany g a i n e d
a l m o s t a m a j o r i t y f o r t h e i r own d o c t r i n e s which were not o n l y
obnoxious but p a l p a b l y absurd and p r a c t i c a l l y imprudent to
a r e c k l e s s degree.
Even now i n 1985 t h e r e i s a tendency to
a c c e p t H i t l e r a t h i s own v a l u a t i o n , and c r e d i t him w i t h
c l e v e r n e s s and " g e n i u s " a l t h o u g h the most c u r s o r y e x a m i n a t i o n
o f an o b j e c t i v e k i n d d i r e c t e d to the e v e n t s o f 1919
to
19^5
shows him to have been an e x c e p t i o n a l l y s t u p i d man
who
succeeded t e m p o r a r i l y o n l y through h i s own f a n a t i c i s m , i t s e l f
p a t h o l o g i c a l l y i n s p i r e d , and the a b i l i t y o f h i m s e l f and h i s
a s s o c i a t e s such as Goebbels to a c h i e v e an "operant c o n d i t i o n i n g "
o f a s u f f i c i e n c y o f the German populace and the German r u l i n g
c l a s s e s — barons, g e n e r a l s , and magnates. I n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n
i t c o u l d be noted t h a t an i m p o r t a n t i n g r e d i e n t i n the
c o n d i t i o n i n g o f opponents i s to impose the myth o f one's
own i n v i n c i b i l i t y and the f u t i l i t y o f o p p o s i t i o n .
T h i s can
c a r r y one a l o n g way.
However i t has i t s own dangers o f
which n o t the l e a s t i s t h a t o f " a u t o - c o n d i t i o n i n g " , i . e .
b e l i e v i n g one's own propaganda, e s p e c i a l l y a f t e r m u l t i p l e
reinforeement.
'While on the theme o f a u t o c r a c y i t can be s a i d t h a t
i t i s not e n t i r e l y c l e a r to what e x t e n t b e h a v i o u r i s t t h e o r i e s
o f c o n d i t i o n i n g have c o n t r i b u t e d to modern t e c h n i q u e s o f
"brainwashing".
I t i s hard to t h i n k t h a t they made no
c o n t r i b u t i o n . I t seems q u i t e c e r t a i n t h a t v a r i o u s q u i t e
standard experiments i n the b e h a v i o u r i s t t r a d i t i o n such as
i n d u c t i o n o f h y s t e r i a and neuroses by u s i n g c o n t r a d i c t o r y
s t i m u l i to f r u s t r a t e o r n e g a t i v e l y r e i n f o r c e responses to
o t h e r i n i t i a l s t i m u l i , and the use o f s i m i l a r c o n f e s s i o n a l
t e c h n i q u e s , c o n t r i b u t e d s u g g e s t i v e l y to the r e p e r t o i r e o f the
professional interrogator.
However n o t a l l the blame f o r
the e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f the C h e k i s t s and Gestapo agents o f t h i s
w o r l d need be l a i d on the s h o u l d e r s o f the b e h a v i o u r i s t s .
F o r example, the attachment o f the p r i s o n e r to the i n t e r r o g a t o r
i s a phenomenon f i r s t noted i n an analogous form i n the
p s y c h o a n a l y t i c " t r a n s f e r e n c e " , a d i s c o v e r y o f Freud's.
L e a v i n g p o l i t i c s f o r the moment, l e t us e n q u i r e as to
the e f f e c t s o f B e h a v i o u r i s m on the s c i e n c e from which i t
draws most of i t s e x p e r i m e n t a l l o r e -- t h a t o f a n i m a l b e h a v i o u r .
Here we cannot do b e t t e r than draw a t t e n t i o n to what Konrad
L o r e n z has to say i n h i s r e l a t i v e l y r e c e n t book The F o u n d a t i o n s
o f E t h o l o g y . I n a c h a p t e r on the f a l l a c i e s o f non-system
o r i e n t e d methods o f i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f a n i m a l b e h a v i o u r he devotes
a s e c t i o n to " O p e r a t i o n a l and E x p l a n a t o r y Monism o f the
B e h a v i o u r i s t School".
L o r e n z s t a r t s by s e t t i n g B e h a v i o u r i s m i n
a h i s t o r i c a l s e t t i n g -- the e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f modem urban
i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y i n which "Most people have v i r t u a l l y
n o t h i n g to do w i t h l i v i n g organisms and have f o r g o t t e n how
to d e a l w i t h them. Worst o f a l l they have l o s t the r e s p e c t
t h a t i s due to a l l t h a t humans are unable to make themselves.
On the o t h e r hand they have an exaggerated esteem
for
t h e i r own t e c h n i c a l p r o d u c t s and f o r the s c i e n c e s o f p h y s i c s
and c h e m i s t r y which c o n t r i b u t e to t h e i r manufacture".
This
a l i e n a t i o n from n a t u r e c o i n c i d e d w i t h the r i s e t o s c i e n t i f i c
dominance o f " e x a c t s c i e n c e " .
I n p r a c t i c e t h i s meant s c i e n c e
where the r e s u l t s c o u l d be e x p r e s s e d i n m a t h e m a t i c a l f o r m u l a e .
T h i s r e v e r e n c e f o r m a t h e m a t i c a l l y e x p r e s s i b l e f i n d i n g s when
t r a n s f e r r e d t o t h e study o f l i v i n g organisms i n e v i t a b l y
engendered a tendency to o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n .
En p a s s a n t
we might r e c a l l the d i c t u m o f W a l t e r P a t e r (1839-1894) t o
the e f f e c t t h a t a l l a r t a s p i r e s t o share the n a t u r e o f music.
Even now i t i s t r u e t h a t many b i o l o g i s t s seek t o make t h e i r
s c i e n c e approximate t o the n a t u r e o f p h y s i c s — a f a c t s t r o n g l y
r e m i n i s c e n t o f P a t e r ' s view o f the p l a s t i c and l i t e r a r y a r t s .
Lorenz f u r t h e r l i k e n s Behaviourism to p o s i t i v i s m .
This
i s a p h i l o s o p h i c v i e w p o i n t o f which foreshadowings are to be
found i n the E n g l i s h p h i l o s o p h e r s Locke, Hume and B e r k e l e y ,
which was more e x p l i c i t l y f o r m u l a t e d by the French s o c i o l o g i s t
Auguste Comte ( 1 7 8 9 - I 8 5 7 ) , who i n t r o d u c e d the term " p o s i t i v i s t " .
The e s s e n t i a l f e a t u r e s o f p o s i t i v i s m were the e x c l u s i v e r e l i a n c e
on e m p i r i c a l data and the r e p u d i a t i o n both o f statements and
of e n t i t i e s of a "metaphysical nature".
M e t a p h y s i c a l statements
are ones t h a t cannot be v e r i f i e d o r f a l s i f i e d by experiment
or observation.
S i m i l a r l y e n t i t i e s whose e x i s t e n c e i s n o t
e m p i r i c a l l y v e r i f i a b l e are m e r e l y h y p o t h e t i c a l c o n s t r u c t s
which must be e x c l u d e d from any s c i e n t i f i c d e s c r i p t i o n o f
reality.
( T h i s p r i n c i p l e i s r e m i n i s c e n t o f the dictum o f an
e a r l i e r Englishman, W i l l i a m o f Oakham, o f t e n quoted — as w e l l
as b e i n g misquoted and m i s a p p l i e d — t o the e f f e c t t h a t one s h o u l d
n o t u n n e c e s s a r i l y p o s t u l a t e the e x i s t e n c e o f e n t i t i e s ) .
A f t e r Comte h i m s e l f the most i n f l u e n t i a l exponent o f
p o s i t i v i s m was E r n e s t Mach ( I 8 5 8 - I 9 1 6 ) , an A u s t r i a n p h y s i c i s t
who ended h i s c a r e e r as a p r o f e s s o r o f " i n d u c t i v e p h i l o s o p h y "
i . e . t h e p h i l o s o p h y o f s c i e n t i f i c method. I n a p o s i t i v i s t i c
way Mach a n t i c i p a t e d h i s c o m p a t r i o t E i n s t e i n i n denying the
e x i s t e n c e b o t h o f t h e a e t h e r and o f a b s o l u t e space and t i m e .
Perhaps i t would be more a c c u r a t e t o say t h a t Mach i n s p i r e d
E i n s t e i n i n these r e j e c t i o n s . Mach however went c o n s i d e r a b l y
further.
So r i g o r o u s was he i n h i s c r i t e r i a f o r e m p i r i c a l
v e r i f i a b i l i t y t h a t he r e j e c t e d the r e a l i t y o f atoms and
m o l e c u l e s . By an i r o n y o f h i s t o r y the r e a l i t y o f atoms was
demonstrated i n 1905 by E i n s t e i n u s i n g data from the d e s p i s e d
s c i e n c e o f b i o l o g y — the Brownian movement — an a g i t a t e d
motion o f m i c r e - o r g a n i s m s i n water s t u d i e d by the b o t a n i s t
Robert Brown i n 1827 and which i s caused by random b u f f e t i n g by
water m o l e c u l e s .
Mach's i n f l u e n c e extended f a r beyond the c o n f i n e s o f
s c i e n c e , and i n s p i r e d the f o r m a t i o n i n the e a r l y 1920's o f
the famous "Vienna C i r c l e " who developed what i s now known as
"logical positivism".
The c h i e f i n t e r e s t t o us i s merely t o
t r a c e t h e e v o l u t i o n o f the " Z e i t g e i s t " which was conducive t o
the f l o u r i s h i n g o f t h e b e h a v i o u r i s t approach.
T h i s approach
was t h o r o u g h l y p o s i t i v i s t and Machian.
I t abrogated
c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f " e n t i t i e s " such as c o n s c i o u s n e s s ,
perception,
e t c . T h e r e f o r e i t r e s t r i c t e d i t s e l f t o " b l a c k box" d e s c r i p t i o n s ,
c h a r a c t e r i z i n g o n l y the o u t p u t t o be expected from a
prescribed input.
As Lorenz says t h i s approach i s e x a c t l y
t h a t used i n many a r e a s o f modern p h y s i c s , p a r t i c u l a r l y
t h a t o f t h e fundamental k i n d — r e l a t i v i t y t h e o r y and
p a r t i c l e p h y s i c s . I t has been d e s c r i b e d by P.W. Bridgeman
as " o p e r a t i o n a l i s m " .
We can agree w i t h l o r e n z t h a t i n
those p a r t i c u l a r a r e a s o f p h y s i c s t h i s methodology may be
justified.
However b i o l o g y i s n o t the same. I t i s n o t
concerned w i t h subatomic p a r t i c l e s o r o b j e c t s t h a t move a t
h i g h speed.
Organisms c o n s i s t o f numerous i n t e r l o c k i n g
subsystems b u t these a r e e s s e n t i a l l y m a c r o - o b j e c t s .
Their
s t r u c t u r e , f u n c t i o n i n g and mutual r e l a t i o n s h i p s a d m i t t e d l y
are d i f f i c u l t t o e l u c i d a t e , b u t there i s no j u s t i f i c a t i o n
whatever t o r e g a r d them as i n p r i n c i p l e unknowable, and to
do so i s t o m i s a p p l y p o s i t i v i s m to anarea f o r w h i c h i t i s
quite inappropriate.
L o r e n z c h a r a c t e r i z e s S k i n n e r ' s f o r m u l a t i o n o f the
p o s i t i v i s t a t t i t u d e . a s the "empty organism d o c t r i n e " .
Truly
e n o u g h , s t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n i s an e n t i r e l y
v a l i d and l e g i t i m a t e method.
As L o r e n z i s n o t a f r a i d t o
say i t has a c h i e v e d g r e a t s c i e n t i f i c s u c c e s s e s o f l a s t i n g v a l u e .
But, because i t i g n o r e s e v e r y t h i n g t h a t happens between t h e
s t i m u l u s and the response, B e h a v i o u r i s m i s l i m i t e d i n i t s
p e r s p e c t i v e , and can o n l y take us so f a r and no f u r t h e r . Thus
i t c o u l d be s a i d t h a t these -savants have t i e d themselves i n t o
a s e l f - i m p o s e d s t r a i g h t - j a c k e t and t h e r e b y have s e t a p r i o r
o r d a i n e d l i m i t on p o t e n t i a l advance.
Lorenz a l l e g e s t h a t
t h i s k i n d o f e r r o r " i s committed by a g r e a t number o f
p s y c h o l o g i s t s and s o c i o l o g i s t s . They o b v i o u s l y c h e r i s h the
hope o f f i n d i n g a s h o r t c u t t o an u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f the most
c o m p l i c a t e d o r g a n i c systems by o p e r a t i o n a l and s t a t i s t i c a l
methods. I n o t h e r words they hope t o c i r c u m v e n t t h e weary
and demanding t a s k o f g a i n i n g any c a u s a l u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e
p h y s i o l o g i c a l machinery whose f u n c t i o n i s a n i m a l and human
behaviour".
L o r e n z makes a n o t h e r good p o i n t b e s t expressed i n h i s
own words "When I.P. P a v l o v was p e r f o r m i n g h i s c l a s s i e
e x p e r i m e n t s on the c o n d i t i o n e d s a l i v a t i n g r e f l e x o f dogs,
he h o g - t i e d h i s e x p e r i m e n t a l a n i m a l s i n such a way t h a t t h e y
had, w i t h i n t h e i r b e h a v i o u r a l r e p e r t o r y , no o t h e r choice t h a n
to s a l i v a t e o r n o t t o s a l i v a t e .
T h i s was c o m p l e t e l y l e g i t i m a t e
so l o n g as the experimenter remained c o n s c i o u s o f the f a c t
t h a t he was i n v e s t i g a t i n g an a r t i f i c i a l l y i s o l a t e d p a r t o f a
system, e x a c t l y as a p h y s i o l o g i s t does who p e r f o r m s experiments
o f e x c i t a t i o n c o n d u c t i o n w i t h i n a bundle o f n e u r i t e s c u t
out o f t h e s c i a t i c nerve o f a f r o g " .
S i m i l a r l y , says L o r e n z ,
"when b e h a v i o u r i s t s p u t e x p e r i m e n t a l p i g e o n s i n t o an opaque
( S k i n n e r ) box p r e v e n t i n g p e r c e p t i o n o f any i n f o r m a t i o n except
t h a t o f when and how o f t e n the p i g e o n p r e s s e s on a key" they
a r e , e i t h e r i n a d v e r t e n t l y , o r by c h o i c e , p r e v e n t i n g themselves
from o b s e r v i n g "the many o t h e r t h i n g s undertaken by the a n i m a l " .
Much o f the s u c c e s s o f B e h a v i o u r i s m i n t h e f i e l d o f zoology
may t h e r e f o r e , i t would seem, r e s u l t from t h e advantage o f a
narrow approach.
The power o f a narrow approach i s sometimes
t h a t i t may p a r a d o x i c a l l y a p p l y to a wide range o f m a t e r i a l .
That i s t o say, b r e a d t h o f a p p l i c a t i o n o f methods and broad
v a l i d i t y o f r e s u l t s a r e g a i n e d by l a c k o f s p e c i f i c i t y and
by s a c r i f i c e o f a n a l y s i s i n depth.
I t i s n o t an e x a c t p a r a l l e l b u t i t i s t o some degree
i l l u m i n a t i n g t o quote G a l i l e o ' s d i s t i n c t i o n between the
" p r i m a r y " and "secondary" c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f an o b j e c t , such
as, f o r example, a c a n n o n b a l l t h a t he might have dropped from
the l e a n i n g tower o f P i s a .
F o r G a l i l e o i t s mass and i t s
g e o m e t r i c a l form (spherical t o some degree o r o t h e r ) would be
primary q u a l i t i e s , but i t s black o r rusty black colour, i t s
f e r r i c odour, and i t s t a c t i l e roughness would a l l be marked as
secondary q u a l i t i e s , and would be l e f t c o m p l e t e l y out o f
account i n any d i s c u s s i o n o f a m e c h a n i c a l problem c o n c e r n i n g
the b a l l , such as i t s t r a j e c t o r y when f i r e d . * I n t h i s G a l i l e o
was p e r f e c t l y c o r r e c t i n the sense t h a t h i s secondary q u a l i t i e s
were i n f a c t i r r e l e v a n t to the s o l u t i o n o f m e c h a n i c a l problems.
A r a i l w a y t r a i n runs as w e l l whether i t i s p a i n t e d r e d o r b l u e .
G a l i l e o by n a r r o w i n g the approach endowed the s c i e n c e of
machanics w i t h the w i d e s t g e n e r a l i t y and t h i s i s one of the
reasons t h a t we s a l u t e him as a g r e a t man, even though, some
two o r more c e n t u r i e s a f t e r , the G a l i l e a n d i s t i n c t i o n gave
r i s e t o p h i l i s o p h i c a l t r o u b l e s , which c o n t r i b u t e d t o the d e n i a l
o f mind o r c o n s c i o u s n e s s as o n t o l o g i c a l r e a l i t i e s .
To r e t u r n t o L o r e n z ; he p o i n t s out t h a t a l l animals w i t h
a c e n t r a l i z e d nervous system — which i n c l u d e s such w i d e l y s e p a r a t e
s p e c i e s as s q u i d s , s p i d e r s , r a t s , p i g e o n s and humans — have
developed b e h a v i o u r a l "feedback", by which the consequences
o f a b e h a v i o u r a l a c t a r e f e d back t o t h e a n i m a l . " I n the case
o f b i o l o g i c a l s u c c e s s , t h i s feedback r e s u l t s i n r e i n f o r e e m e n t ;
i n t h e case o f f a i l u r e , i t has an e x t i n g u i s h i n g e f f e c t " .
Thus v a s t numbers o f s p e c i e s throughout the a n i m a l kingdom
" a l l p o s s e s s v i r t u a l l y i d e n t i c a l c a p a c i t i e s f o r l e a r n i n g by
success and f a i l u r e " .
S t i m u l u s - r e s p o n s e experiments t h e r e f o r e
* Unlets
»»>e
we+e
a,
J(?v*iM.«tvtj <yx.AlUlfj
lecauur
% tfi^ +&tu le*.** ,c^.
can h a r d l y f a i l .
However they r e p r e s e n t a now u n n e c e s s a r i l y
r e s t r i c t i v e approach to the study o f animal b e h a v i o u r .
To r e t u r n to humans:
Shakespeare put inrto Mark Anthony's
mouth the words "The e v i l t h a t men do l i v e s a f t e r them; the
good i s o f t e n i n t e r r e d w i t h t h e i r hones".
The r e f e r e n c e i s
t o what i s remembered r a t h e r than to a c t u a l achievement.
I t i s tempting t o say "So l e t i t be w i t h Watson and S k i n n e r " .
But t h i s would be u n f a i r . A t r u e d e s c r i p t i o n o f the v a r i e d
l e g a c i e s from the b e h a v i o u r i s t s has to be somewhat evenhanded.
T h i s i s e s p e c i a l l y t r u e o f the d i s p u t e between e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t
and g e n e t i c i s t s — acute i n our day, but i n f a c t a v e n e r a b l e
c o n t r o v e r s y e x t e n d i n g back almost to the b e g i n n i n g o f time.
The extreme g e n e t i c i s t view, even nowadays, can be put i n
Shakespeare's words i n K i n g L e a r , "Nature on which n u r t u r e
w i l l never s t i c k " .
At the o p p o s i t e p o l e o f b e l i e f , the
extreme e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t view was e n s h r i n e d i n L e n i n ' s t h e s i s
t h a t i t would be p o s s i b l e to r e a r f u t u r e g e n e r a t i o n s o f people
a l l o f whom would be o f the h i g h e s t a b i l i t y and a b l e to engage
s u c c e s s f u l l y i n any human a c t i v i t y .
We cannot i n conscience c l a i m t h a t L e n i n was i n f l u e n c e d
by Watson.
Degeneration o f L e n i n ' s nervous system was
n o t i c e a b l e by 1921, and the p e r f e c t i b i l i t y o f human n a t u r e
had been a commonplace among p r o g r e s s i v e s s i n c e Rousseau, and
was s t i l l e s s e n t i a l l y a x i o m a t i c among S o c i a l i s t s i n the
n i n e t e e n hundreds -- even the pragmatic E n g l i s h Fabians such
as Bernard Shaw and Annie Besant.
Pav^lov, i t i s true, gained
h i s Nobel P r i z e i n 1904 and h i s f o r e i g n membership o f the
Royal S o c i e t y o f London (England) i n 1907, but much o f h i s
fame was e s t a b l i s h e d a f t e r L e n i n ' s death i n 1924.
(Pavlov
h i m s e l f , l o a d e d w i t h honours both R u s s i a n and i n t e r n a t i o n a l ,
d i d n o t d i e u n t i l 1936).
However we may suspect that Soviet
t h i n k i n g , i n the ( s e d u l o u s l y e x p l o i t e d ) a f t e r g l o w of the
c a n o n i z e d L e n i n and the r a d i a n c e o f the l i v i n g P a v l o v , gained
sustenance from the g e n e r a l t e n d e n c i e s o f B e h a v i o u r i s m , and
t h i s may have c o n t r i b u t e d to c e r t a i n m i s t a k e s and e r r o r s o f
judgement i n some s c i e n t i f i c p o l i c i e s o f the government.
E n v i r o n m e n t a l i s m seems c e r t a i n l y to have been harmful
i n i t s r e p e r c u s s i o n s on a g r i c u l t u r e , when t r a n s f e r r e d from
humans to p l a n t s . I t s i n f l u e n c e on S o v i e t p l a n t g e n e t i c s c o u l d
be s a i d to have been v e r y b a l e f u l .
As i s w e l l known, Lysenko
and P r e s e n t denied the v a l i d i t y i n t o t o o f Mendelian g e n e t i c s .
T h i s was done on a p r i o r i p h i l o s o p h i c a l grounds w i t h o u t
r e f e r e n c e to the unshakeably f i r m e x p e r i m e n t a l b a s i s on which
that science rests.
I n a d d i t i o n they g e n e r a l i z e d from a
v e r y s m a l l number o f t h e i r own experiments which they
m i s i n t e r p r e t e d . T h i s a p p l i e d p a r t i c u l a r l y to the s i n g l e p l a n t
which e a r l y i n t h e i r c a r e e r they e x h i b i t e d a? a t r u e b r e e d i n g
w i n t e r - h a r d y wheat.
I t was, o f course, a h y b r i d .
Amongst o t h e r p h r a s e s i n t h e i r p o l e m i c a l works occurs
the s i g n i f i c a n t e p i t h e t " t r a i n i n g " .
P l a n t s c o u l d be
" t r a i n e d " to d e v e l o p i n c e r t a i n ways. Of course, p e a r s ,
i v y , c l e m a t i s and honeysuckle can be " t r a i n e d " to hug
w a l l s and hedges, but what Lysenko meant was something
d i f f e r e n t . He s a i d t h a t v a r y i n g t h e i r n u r t u r e c o u l d
f u n d a m e n t a l l y a f f e c t the s p e c i f i c q u a l i t i e s o r "nature" o f
plants.
T h i s sounded v e r y good to d i s t r i c t Commissars w a n t i n g
r e s u l t s i n a h u r r y , and to S t a l i n h i m s e l f , and to Kruschev.
The l a t t e r i n f a c t a l s o committed h i s own b l u n d e r by s e e k i n g
to tame the " V i r g i n Lands" p a r t i c u l a r l y Kazakstan, which i s
n o t o n l y c o l d i n w i n t e r , but d r y a l l the y e a r round -- n e i t h e r
M e n d e l i a n n o r L y s e n k o i s t g e n e t i c s can breed g r a i n s t h a t
dispense w i t h water J .
The p r a c t i c a l outcome of a l l these schemes, s l e n d e r l y
based i n o b s e r v a t i o n , was i n f a c t d i s a s t r o u s .
While
B e h a v i o u r i s m had some minor r o l e i n t h i s , i t would, of course,
be u n j u s t to a s c r i b e major r e s p o n s i b i l i t y to i t .
The most
t h a t can be s a i d i s t h a t i t was one f a c t o r c o n t r i b u t i n g to
a c l i m a t e o f thought t h a t , f o r t u i t o u s l y , because o f a d v e n t i t i o u
c i r c u m s t a n c e s , g e n e r a t e d e f f e c t s out o f p r o p o r t i o n to i t s
source.
However, i n human a f f a i r s worldwide the consequences
o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t types o f approach have been d e f i n i t e l y
beneficial.
I n the spheres o f c r i m i n o l o g y and s o c i a l work
these approaches have had a normative tendency. For i n s t a n c e
they have done much to c o r r e c t the i d e a t h a t d e l i n q u e n t
j u v e n i l e s , and a d u l t s as w e l l , are i n h e r e n t l y "bad" and have
f a c i l i t a t e d the p r o o f o f the f a c t t h a t a m a j o r i t y o f
d e l i n q u e n t s are t r u l y the p r o d u c t s o f home environments t h a t
are d e f e c t i v e i n v a r i o u s s p e c i f i c a l l y d e f i n a b l e ways. Some
o f the c r e d i t f o r t h i s has, o f course, to be shared w i t h
Freud, who demonstrated e f f e c t s o f trauma i n humans.
Environmental!sm, whether o r n o t i n s p i r e d by s p e c i f i c a l l y
b e h a v i o u r i s t t h i n k i n g , has p r o v i d e d a counterweight to
e x c e s s i v e " g e n e t i c i s m " which s t r e s s e s the r o l e o f b i o l o g i c a l
h e r e d i t y i n d e t e r m i n i n g h e a l t h and a b i l i t y and m i n i f i e s the
e f f e c t s o f environment.
Some o f the s o c i a l consequences
o f such a t t i t u d e s such as v a r i e t i e s o f r a c i a l i s m , i n p a r t i c u l a r
the t h e o r y o f b l a c k i n f e r i o r i t y , are a l l too obvious.
Less
w e l l known i n N o r t h America but prominent i n B r i t a i n i s
the problem of p u b l i c , i . e . s t a t e maintened e d u c a t i o n a f t e r
the age o f e l e v e n o r twelve.
I n E r i t a i n from about 19^5 o r so the s t a t e s c h o o l s
were d i v i d e d i n t o two separate groups "secondary s c h o o l s "
and "grammar s c h o o l s ". Entrance to t h e grammar s c h o o l s ,
which c o n s t i t u t e d an e s s e n t i a l s t e p p i n g stone t o a l l t h e
more h i g h l y p a i d and p r e s t i g i o u s v o c a t i o n s , depended on
e x a m i n a t i o n designed t o t e s t i n n a t e i n t e l l e c t u a l a b i l i t y .
T h i s system which was m a i n t a i n e d unmodified f o r a whole
generation occasioned great heart-searching, controversy,
and p o l i t i c a l antagonism.
A l l we need say here i s t h a t
among o t h e r t h i n g s i t i n v o l v e d i n t e n s e debate between
e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t s and the proponents o f a " g e n e t i c i s t "
view. (Of the l a t t e r i t s h o u l d be s a i d t h a t they were n o t
n e c e s s a r i l y p r o f e s s i o n a l g e n e t i c i s t s , many o f whom i n f a c t
are e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t s i n human m a t t e r s ) .
Here i t i s worth
remarking t h a t the " g e n e t i c i s t " view, t h a t a b i l i t y i n humans
i n modern s o c i e t y i s i n h e r i t e d t o a v e r y h i g h degree r e s t s
i n f a c t on a s u r p r i z i n g l y narrow e v i d e n t i a l base, much o f
which has been c a l l e d i n q u e s t i o n i n r e c e n t y e a r s .
We have t r i e d b y b e i n g (we hope) even-handed w i t h
r e s p e c t t o Behaviourism's l e g a c y ,to d i s s i p a t e the image t h a t
the r e a d e r might have gained o f B e h a v i o u r i s m as a
r a v e n i n g demon whose horns a r e c a l l e d 'Watson, and whose
h o o f s are c a l l e d S k i n n e r . Many o t h e r d i s t i n g u i s h e d p s y c h o l o g i
such a s H u l l and Tolman whom we have mentioned have been o f
the b e h a v i o u r i s t p e r s u a s i o n , b u t i t i s 'Watson and S k i n n e r
whom the p u b l i c most c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e w i t h Behaviourism -Watson as the e f f e c t i v e founder o f t h e d i s c i p l i n e and S k i n n e r
as b e i n g , amongst o t h e r t h i n g s , the most p r o l i f i c w r i t e r
on the s u b j e c t ; many o f h i s books a r e addressed t o a l a y
r e a d e r s h i p as w e l l as to p r o f e s s i o n a l s .
I t i s convenient
therefore p r i o r to t a k i n g our leave of Behaviourism to
d i s c u s s t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o psychology i n the
p a s t , and a l s o i n r e l a t i o n t o c e r t a i n c u r r e n t a n x i e t i e s t h a t
a r e v o i c e d from time t o time.
A propos o f t h i s , we took care
i n the t i t l e to t h i s review to r e f e r only t o the d e c l i n e o f
B e h a v i o u r i s m and n o t t o i t s f a l l .
I n u n i v e r s i t i e s the
b e h a v i o u r i s t approach i s a s y e t w e l l r e p r e s e n t e d , and as an
a p p l i e d s c i e n c e , i t i s s t i l l i n f l u e n t i a l o u t s i d e the g r o v e s
o f academe. Indeed there c o u l d be found those who would
say, p a r a p h r a s i n g t h e words t h a t Shakespeare p u t s i n t o the
mouth o f B r u t u s a t P h i l i p p i "0 Watson and S k i n n e r , thou
a r t m i g h t y y e t , Thy s p i r i t walks abroad, and t u r n s o u r swords
i n o u r own p r o p e r e n t r a i l s " .
B u t t h i s concern i s perhaps
exaggerated.
}
J.B. Watson ( I 8 7 8 - I 9 5 8 ) r a p i d l y e s t a b l i s h e d h i s
r e p u t a t i o n f o r good work i n the comparative p s y c h o l o g y
o f a n i m a l s — a type o f study s t i m u l a t e d b y Darwinism t h a t
a n i m a l s , b e i n g i n an e v o l u t i o n a r y r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h humans,
themselves must have a k i n d o f p s y c h o l o g y .
By 1913 Watson
was a s u c c e s s f u l and i n f l u e n t i a l p r o f e s s o r o f p s y c h o l o g y a t
Johns H o p k i n s , and i t was t h e n t h a t h i s i n f l u e n t i a l paper
" P s y c h o l o g y a s the B e h a v i o u r i s t Views I t " , was p u b l i s h e d i n
the P s y c h o l o g i c a l Review, s h o r t l y to be f o l l o w e d b y h i s book
B e h a v i o u r : an I n t r o d u c t i o n t o Comparative P s y c h o l o g y .
He l a i d s t r e s s on c o n d i t i o n i n g a s an i n v e s t i g a t i v e method.
The c o n d i t i o n e d r e f l e x had been known s i n c e the e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y when R o b e r t Whytt n o t i c e d t h a t s a l i v a t i o n was
a c c e l e r a t e d by the s i g h t o r even the thought o f f o o d , and,
as we have n o t e d , Twitmeyer developed a k n e e - j e r k
c o n d i t i o n e d r e f l e x i n a human s u b j e c t i n 1 9 0 2 .
However
l i t t l e a c t u a l work on c o n d i t i o n i n g had been done i n 1913
outside of Russia.
Watson was the f i r s t p s y c h o l o g i s t i n the
West t o use the term " c o n d i t i o n i n g " , which he took from
Pavlov.
I n f a c t i t was not u n t i l 1926 o r so th^at e x t e n s i v e
work on c o n d i t i o n i n g was done i n American l a b o r a t o r i e s
even though Watson's w r i t i n g s g r e a t l y s t i m u l a t e d i n t e r e s t
i n Behaviourism.
T h i s was due i n p a r t t o the f a c t t h a t
P a v l o v ' s w r i t i n g s o n l y became known through t r a n s l a t i o n s
i n 1927.
A n o t h e r f a c t o r may be a m i s f o r t u n e t h a t b e f e l l Watson
i n 1920.
He was f o r c e d t o l e a v e Johns Hopkins i n 1920.
T h i s was n o t because o f any s c i e n t i f i c o p i n i o n s he may have
advanced/or because o f t h e i r tendency, but s i m p l y because he
was d i v o r c e d . A l t h o u g h Johns Hopkins was founded a s a
n o n - s e c t a r i a n i n s t i t u t i o n , l i k e almost a l l u n i v e r s i t i e s o u t s i d e
o f the USSR, d i v o r c e ( a t l e a s t f o r the " g u i l t y p a r t y " ) was
a t t h a t time f a t a l t o r e t e n t i o n on F a c u l t y .
J.B.S. Haldane,
the a l r e a d y eminent b i o c h e m i s t and g e n e t i c i s t had a s i m i l a r
misadventure i n the same p e r i o d a t T r i n i t y C o l l e g e , Cambridge,
England. I n h i s case h i s f i n a l e x i t was delayed b y p r o l o n g e d
(and, i t must be a d m i t t e d , r a t h e r amusing) l i t i g a t i o n and
q u a s i - j u d i c i a l p r o c e e d i n g s w i t h the C o l l e g e and the U n i v e r s i t y
o f Cambridge.*" E v e n t u a l l y Haldane was r e c e i v e d i n t o a
s u i t a b l e academic haven as P r o f e s s o r ^ G e n e t i c s a t U n i v e r s i t y
C o l l e g e , London, an i n s t i t u t i o n founded i n 1826 t o p r o v i d e f o r
s t u d e n t s excluded from Oxford o r Cambridge on r e l i g i o u s
grounds o r f o r l a c k o f means. P r o v i d i n g no f a c i l i t i e s f o r
the t e a c h i n g o f r e l i g i o n o r f o r the p r a e t i c e o f f o r m a l
observances, i t was known j o c u l a r l y a s "The I n f i d e l C o l l e g e " .
I t i s l i k e l y t h a t Watson's d i s m i s s a l from Johns Hopkins was
d e c i d e d e n t i r e l y by r u l e w i t h o u t r e f e r e n c e t o a n o t h e r i s s u e
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t h a t was a p o t e n t i a l source o f bad p u b l i c i t y .
I n 1921,
r e p o r t i n g work from e a r l i e r y e a r s Watson and Rayner
p u b l i s h e d a paper on e x p e r i m e n t s on the c o n d i t i o n i n g o f
fear i n children.
These were the l a s t e x p e r i m e n t s t h a t
Watson was concerned i n , but some work on the c o n d i t i o n i n g
o f humans i n c l u d i n g i n f a n t s c o n t i n u e d to be done by o t h e r s .
The news s l o w l y f i l t e r e d through t o the p r e s s — there were
n o t the s c i e n c e j o u r n a l s o r columns o r s c i e n c e w r i t e r s t h a t
we have now — and we r e c a l l r e a d i n g , i n the e a r l y 1930*s
i n e i t h e r the D a i l y o r Sunday E x p r e s s o f London, England, -newspapers soon t o become a l m o s t as n o t o r i o u s as The D a i l y
M a i l f o r t h e i r s u p p o r t o f rapprochements w i t h H i t l e r and
Mussolinir-vehemently expressed moral c r i t i c i s m of
b e h a v i o u r i s t experiments c o n d i t i o n i n g f e a r i n babies.
With
the heavy handed humour t h a t i n those days passed f o r w i t - i n
the Beaverbrook p r e s s , the then c o l u m n i s t c a l l e d f o r an
experiment i n which the b e h a v i o u r i s t c o n d i t i o n e r of b a b i e s
was to be h i t o v e r the head e v e r y time he saw a baby, i n the
hope t h a t when c o n d i t i o n i n g was complete he would scream
whenever he saw a baby.
The r e a c t i o n d e s c r i b e d above e x h i b i t s a r a t h e r
u n s o p h i s t i c a t e d u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f what c o n s t i t u t e s c o n d i t i o n i n g .
Indeed c a r e has to be t a k e n i n d e f i n i n g c o n d i t i o n i n g as
w e l l as d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between the v a r i o u s k i n d s .
Before
so d o i n g we may n o t e t h a t Dr. Watson was l e s s f o r t u n a t e than vf.
Haldane. P o s s i b l y because o f a l a c k o f " i n f i d e l " c o l l e g e s
i n the U.S.A. he d i d not f i n d an academic s h e l t e r .
Instead
he went i n t o a d v e r t i s i n g , becoming the c h i e f employee o f the
J . W a l t e r Thompson Company.
He d i r e c t e d i n v e n t i v e a d v e r t i s i n g
campaigns f o r Maxwell House C o f f e e , Pond's Cold Cream, and the
P e n n s y l v a n i a R a i l r o a d , and c a r r i e d out much t e a c h i n g o f
a d v e r t i s i n g c o l l e a g u e s on the a r t o f s e l l i n g .
I n the
p o p u l a r p r e s s he advocated B e h a v i o u r i s m e s p e c i a l l y i n r e l a t i o n
t o c h i l d - r e a r i n g . I t i s s a i d t h a t "Pew o f t o d a y ' s p s y c h o l o g i s t s
r e a l i z e the e x t e n t t o which American c h i l d - r e a r i n g i n the
1930 s ... was shaped by p o p u l a r a r t i c l e s Watson wrote on
the s u b j e c t i n the 1920's ... He had somehow d e r i v e d from
B e h a v i o u r i s m an approach to parenthood t h a t anyone today, even
a f u l l y committed b e h a v i o u r i s t , would l i k e l y f i n d f o r b i d d i n g l y
u n a f f e c t i o n a t e I n r e s p e c t o f p s y c h o l o g i c a l t h e o r y i t can
f a i r l y be s a i d t h a t when o u t s i d e o f a u n i v e r s i t y environment
Watson tended to w r i t e w i t h o u t p r o p e r academic r e s t r a i n t .
He i n c l i n e d to phrase a l l problems o f l e a r n i n g i n terms o f
conditioning.
Thus i n h i s book B e h a v i o u r i s m p u b l i s h e d i n
1930 he d e c l a r e d "There i s no such t h i n g as an i n h e r i t a n c e o f
c a p a c i t y , t a l e n t , temperament, mental c o n s t i t u t i o n , and
characteristics".
A d m i t t e d t h i s sweeping statement ( q u i t e
J
as extreme i n i t s own way as t h e c l a i m s o f the u l t r a
g e n e t i c i s t s ) r e f e r s o n l y t o t h e i n h e r i t a n c e o f the v a r i o u s
l i s t e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s and n o t t o t h e i r o n t o l o g i c a l b e i n g ,
b u t i t c e r t a i n l y opened the door t o those c r i t i c s , such as
i n o u r own day, A r t h u r K o e s t l e r , who saw B e h a v i o u r i s m n o t
m e r e l y a s a form o f p o s i t i v i s m , b u t a s a v a r i e t y o f
"reductionism" — i n b r i e f the p o i n t o f view t h a t behaviour
a l o n e i s " r e a l " and t h a t "mind", " c o n s c i o u s n e s s " e t c . a r e
" s u b j e c t i v e " o n l y and n o t t r u l y " r e a l " i . e . j u s t "epiphenomena".
A r e f l e x i s an i n v o l u n t a r y movement, a c t i o n , o r
p h y s i o l o g i c a l e f f e c t , produced by t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f a s e n s o r y
impute i n t o the c e n t r a l nervous system where, v i a some
n e u r o l o g i c a l connection, a so-called " r e f l e x arc" i s
completed which a c t i v a t e s some motor nerve channels, thus
p r o d u c i n g the a c t i o n o r e f f e c t . A s i m p l e example i s b l i n k i n g ,
when t h e eye i s t h r e a t e n e d b y a b r i g h t l i g h t o r the sudden
c l o s e approach o f an o b j e c t j
o r by one's jumping a s i d e
when a nearby a n i m a l suddenly emits a t h r e a t e n i n g n o i s e .
The e s s e n t i a l p o i n t about a r e f l e x a c t i o n i s t h a t i t i s
involuntary.
I t i s not the r e s u l t o f l o g i c a l deduction
such a s t h e c o n n e c t i o n between cause and e f f e c t deduced
by r e p e a t e d o b s e r v a t i o n as e n v i s a g e d by David Hume. Indeed
i t i s an a u t o m a t i c r e a c t i o n .
When a sheep o r a human
withdraws from c o n t a c t w i t h an e l e c t r i c fence i t i s an
i n v o l u n t a r y movement mediated through the nervous system
w i t h o u t m e d i a t i o n v i a c o n s c i o u s thought.
Correspondingly,
r e f l e x e s a r e u n i v e r s a l throughout the animal kingdom* and
t h e i r s t u d y i s a c c o r d i n g l y o f t h e w i d e s t r e l e v a n c e even
though t h e y account f o r o n l y a f r a c t i o n o f a n i m a l o r human
b e h a v i o u r . The concept o f t h e r e f l e x and the r e f l e x a r c
o r i g i n a t e d w i t h Rene D e s c a r t e s i n mid seventeenth c e n t u r y
and a s s i s t e d him i n d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between the automatic
f u n c t i o n i n g o f " s o u l l e s s " a n i m a l s and the v o l u n t a r y and
r a t i o n a l b e h a v i o u r o f humans.
The i d e a a l s o harmonized
w i t h h i s a m b i t i o n t o e x p l a i n a s much a s p o s s i b l e o f n a t u r e
i n terms o f m e c h a n i c a l p r o c e s s e s - - a program t a k e n up w i t h
enthusiasm by the p h y s i o l o g i s t s o f t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h
century.
As we have i n d i c a t e d , the idea o f the conditioned
r e f l e x came i n t o i t s own i n the e a r l y twentieth century.
Th,e
s i m p l e s t form o f c o n d i t i o n i n g i s c a l l e d " c l a s s i c a l " or
"respondent" c o n d i t i o n i n g . In c l a s s i c a l c o n d i t i o n i n g a stimulus
t h a t i s a p p l i e d r e p e a t e d l y becomes, p u r e l y by r e p e t i t i o n ,
increasingly effective.
For example, an u n f a m i l i a r food
presented to an animal f o r the f i r s t time may not produce the
s a l i v a t i o n response. However a f t e r repeated p r e s e n t a t i o n s and
samplings, i t i s found that s a l i v a t i o n occurs at the s i g h t or
odour o f the once u n f a m i l i a r aliment.
A stimulus o f t h i s k i n d
i s c a l l e d an unconditioned stimulus (or US i n a b b r e v i a t i o n ) .
Suppose fctaever t h a t a second stimulus i s presented repeatedly
j u s t p r i o r to the p r e s e n t a t i o n of the US (unconditioned s t i m u l u s ) ,
then e v e n t u a l l y the second stimulus, c a l l e d the CS -- c o n d i t i o n e d
or c o n d i t i o n a l stimulus -- w i l l , by i t s e l f , i n the absence of the
US, produce the same response.
Thus the r i n g i n g o f a b e l l
about a minute before the p r e s e n t a t i o n of food w i l l e v e n t u a l l y
by i t s e l f cause s a l i v a t i o n i n many mammals, or the food-seeking
r e a c t i o n i n other s p e c i e s , such as f i s h .
The response i n
the absence o f the US (unconditioned stimulus) i s c a l l e d a
c o n d i t i o n e d response (CR).
Responses to unpleasant s t i m u l i
can a l s o be c o n d i t i o n e d .
Thus Watson c o n d i t i o n e d f e a r i n
i n f a n t s by u s i n g a loud noise as c o n d i t i o n a l stimulus i n
c o n j u n c t i o n with showing them a f u r r y animal such as a white
r a t or r a b b i t .
A f t e r s u f f i c i e n t r e p e t i t i o n the c h i l d r e n r e a c t e d
f e a r f u l l y to the s i g h t of the animal without h e a r i n g the n o i s e .
As a p r a c t i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n o f respondent c o n d i t i o n i n g there i s
the weakly e l e c t r i f i e d fence f o r c o n f i n i n g farm animals.
After
a few shocks the animals avoid the fences on s i g h t -- seeing
the fence becomes the CS.
In humans t h i s i s the b a s i s of
" a v e r s i v e therapy" or "behaviour m o d i f i c a t i o n " , e , g . c o n d i t i o n i n g
v o l u n t e e r s u b j e c t s to r e a c t with hausea to the smell of a l c o h o l
and thus c u r i n g t h e i r a l c o h o l i s m .
In r e c e n t years concern
has been expressed as to the i n c r e a s i n g use o f c o n d i t i o n i n g
on c h i l d r e n with "behaviour problems" i n c l u d i n g the b r a i n damaged, the a u t i s t i c , and the p s y c h o t i c .
Doubts attach
not o n l y to the wisdom o f the procedures i n the hands of c l i n i c
p s y c h o l o g i s t s , but i n a movement to teach parents the a r t o f
conditioning.
A v a r i a n t form of c o n d i t i o n i n g , known as"operant
c o n d i t i o n i n g " became e x t e n s i v e l y used i n l a b o r a t o r y research
a f t e r the p u b l i c a t i o n i n 1938 of Skinner's book The Behaviour
o f Organisms.
In operant c o n d i t i o n i n g the organism i s not
a p a s s i v e r e c i p i e n t o f the US and the CS.
No Unconditioned
s t i m u l u s i s used;
i n s t e a d the organism, — pigeon, r a t , cat,
monkey, e t c . obtains a reward i f i t makes the r i g h t choice of
action.
Thus a r a t w i l l get food i f i t goes through a door
with h o r i z o n t a l l i n e s on i t , "but not i f i t chooses an
a l t e r n a t e door with a v e r t i c a l p a t t e r n .
A l t e r n a t i v e l y the
organism may get i t s reward i f i t presses an a p p r o p r i a t e key
but not otherwise.
The c o n d i t i o n i n g which may a l s o be c a l l e d
" t r i a l and e r r o r l e a r n i n g " may r e q u i r e a l o n g s e r i e s of t r i a l s
before the l e s s o n i s l e a r n e d . I n f a n t s may a l s o be conditioned*'
In f a c t , p r i o r to Skinner's p u b l i c a t i o n s on operant
c o n d i t i o n i n g i t had been used by Ivanov-Smolensky i n s t u d i e s
of discriminatory learning i n children;
the reward f o r making
r i g h t c h o i c e s was chocolate candy.
Burrhus F r e d e r i c k Skinner was born i n Susquehanna,
Pennsylvania i n 1904.
A b r i l i a n t student he was admitted
to the graduate school at Harvard i n 1928 a t the age of 24,
on the recommendation o f P r o f e s s o r E.G. B o r i n g the head of
experimental psychology there and the author of the c l a s s i c
H i s t o r y o f Experimental Psychology, who l a t e r recommended
Skinner's appointment to the F a c u l t y .
In the course of h i s
graduate s t u d i e s Skinner r a p i d l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d h i m s e l f .
I n 1930 he devised the Skinner box technique f o r the experimental
study of operant c o n d i t i o n i n g -- r e s e a r c h which he continued
u n t i l 1957From 1938 onwards operant c o n d i t i o n i n g became
a widely used l a b o r a t o r y method.
Skinner and h i s
p h i l o s o p h i c a l approaches became widely known not only through
h i s t e c h n i c a l papers but also because o f h i s output of books.
He was a v e r y p r o l i f i c w r i t e r and addressed h i m s e l f not only
to p s y c h o l o g i s t s but to laymen.
Indeed i n h i s youth Skinner
had wished to be a w r i t e r .
The f a c t t h a t i n the end h i s c a r e e r
was spent as a p s y c h o l o g i s t i s by no means u n t y p i c a l .
We know
more than one student t h a t has s t a r t e d as a student of E n g l i s h
and then become a p s y c h o l o g i s t .
T h i s , i n p a r t i c u l a r , conforms
w i t h Dr. Samuel Johnsonjs dictum — "The l o v e of l i t e r a t u r e i s
the l o v e o f l i f e " .
In h i s autobiography Skinner a s c r i b e s
h i s i n t e r e s t i n psychology to encountering w r i t i n g s by Watson
and a l s o B e r t r a n R u s s e l l .
The i n f l u e n c e of R u s s e l l could w e l l
have been m a n i f o l d .
In the A n a l y s i s o f Mind p u b l i s h e d i n 1921
he employed l o g i c a l a n a l y s i s i n a somewhat p o s i t i v i s t way,
and r e j e c t e d consciousness as a fundamental c h a r a c t e r i s t i c
o f mind. He was a l s o keenly i n t e r e s t e d i n education on which
he p u b l i s h e d a book i n 1926.
As we s h a l l see, education,
p a r t i c u l a r l y moral education, became i n l a t e r years one of
Skinner's prime concerns. A f t e r a p e r i o d a t Indiana, Skinner,
on the recommendation o f B o r i n g (whose views a c t u a l l y d i f f e r e d
v e r y much from h i s ) was appointed i n 1948 to the F a c u l t y at
Harvard where subsequently he h e l d the p r e s t i g i o u s Edgar
P i e r c e P r o f e s s o r s h i p o f Psychology.
10
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The year 19^-8 must have been a memorable one f o r
Skinner. Besides h i s appointment at Harvard -- one of the
world's academic p i n n a c l e s — the year was d i s t i n g u i s h e d by
the p u b l i c a t i o n of h i s book Walden Two.
The name o f Walden
w i l l r i n g a dozen b e l l s i n the r e c o l l e c t i o n o f a l l United S t a t e s
i n t e l l e c t u a l s and many other educated persons as w e l l .
Walden
Pond i s adjacent to Lexington and Concord — hallowed names
i n U.S.A. h i s t o r y because there was f i r e d "the shot heard
round the world" t h a t i n i t i a t e d the American R e v o l u t i o n -and w i t h i n easy reach o f Boston Common and Harvard Yard.
A g r e a t v a r i e t y o f people a l s o revere Concord as being an
e s s e n t i a l f o c u s i n the l i t e r a r y f l o w e r i n g o f New England,
p a r t i c u l a r l y i n r e s p e c t of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862).
Emerson was the l e a d i n g
s p i r i t i n the Transcendental Club o f Boston founded i n I836 to
d i s c u s s the ideas of the German t r a n s c e n d e n t a l i d e a l i s t s i n which they
i n c l u d e d both Kant and S c h e l l i n g .
The emphasis o f those two
p h i l o s o p h e r s was not q u i t e c o i n c i d e n t .
However both denied
the importance of formal r e l i g i o n and p l a c e d r e l i a n c e on
i n d i v i d u a l moral i n t u i t i o n .
S c h e l l i n g went f u r t h e r and
( r i g h t l y or wrongly) p e r c e i v e d an a c t i v e s p i r i t i n nature.
Nature i s a u n i v e r s a l organism endowed with a world s o u l which can
be understood by human i n t u i t i o n .
In p a r t i c u l a r t h i s i n s i g h t
can be encouraged by a r e t u r n to nature -- observing and
communing t h e r w i t h .
Emerson was descended from P e t e r Buckeley one of
the founders o f Concord, and h i s f a t h e r was m i n i s t e r of the
o l d e s t church i n Boston, but i n c l i n e d towards U n i t e r i a n i s m .
Orphaned e a r l y i n l i f e , Emerson with some degree o f f i n a n c i a l
s t r u g g l e graduated from Harvard and became the a s s i s t a n t
m i n i s t e r o f Boston's second o l d e s t church, which was U n i t a r i a n .
Even so, i n f l u e n c e d by German p h i l o s o p h y and b i b l i c a l c r i t i c i s m ,
and being a wide reader i n touch with a l l the i n t e l l e c t u a l
and s o c i a l movements o f the p e r i o d , Emerson r a p i d l y moved
beyond U n i t a r i a n i s m i n the d i r e c t i o n o f completely i n f o r m a l
personal r e l i g i o n .
With the German i d e a l i s t p h i l o s o p h e r s
he b e l i e v e d t h a t the d i v i n e could d i r e c t l y i n s p i r e r e l i g i o u s
and moral f e e l i n g s i n the human i n d i v i d u a l and a l s o permeated
n a t u r e . Emerson was too shrewd to "Polyanna-ise" nature,
In h i s essay Nature o f I836 he represented i t as deploying
t i t a n i c and t e r r i b l e f o r c e s as w e l l as being a l s o the v e h i c l e
f o r sublime and moral experiences. However i n I832 a f t e r the
death of h i s f i r s t w i f e Emerson r e s i g n e d h i s p a s t o r s h i p and
went on an extended v i s i t to Europe to meet C o l e r i d g e -- one
o f the v e h i c l e s by which German romantic "nature-philosophy"
had reached the E n g l i s h speaking world.
He a l s o sought out
Wordsworth who represented the pantheism which nowadays we
e s p e c i a l l y a s s o c i a t e not only with him and Walt Whitman
hut a l s o with Emerson who, v i a S c h e l l i n g , developed a deep
i n t e r e s t i n and knowledge of o r i e n t a l r e l i g i o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y
Hindu Brahmanism — as r e f e r e n c e h i s s t i l l popular poem
Brahma. (We might note that i n 1836, as i f u n c e r t a i n of the
Z e i t g e i s t , Emerson p u b l i s h e d Nature anonymously. I t was not
u n t i l 1844 t h a t i t was r e p r i n t e d as one o f h i s Essays: Second
Series).
Somewhat e a r l i e r i n 1834 he r e t r e a t e d to what he
hoped would be r u r a l peace, s e t t l i n g at the Old Manse at
Concord to devote h i m s e l f to w r i t i n g and l e c t u r i n g , and, when
requested, to preaching.
Soon, however, the world beat a
path to h i s doori
Among Emerson's p u p i l s was Thoreau, born i n Concord,
and the h e r i t o r of a small f a m i l y business.
A pencil factory,
i t was not i n a p p r o p r i a t e to one destined to be a world
famous w r i t e r .
L i k e Emerson, a f t e r a f i n a n c i a l s t r u g g l e
he graduated from Harvard i n 1837.
In t h a t very year the
P h i Beta Kappa commencement address was d e l i v e r e d by Emerson
and e n t i t l e d The American S c h o l a r .
In t h i s l e c t u r e Emerson
summoned young Americans to f o l l o w h i s own c a l l i n g -- that of the
independent i n t e l l e c t u a l at the s e r v i c e of the American
Republic as he had o u t l i n e d i n Nature, devoted to the old
S o c r a t i c goal o f knowing o n e s e l f , and a l s o to that of understanding
nature so as to i n t u i t the u n i t y of
indwelling s p i r i t i n
man and the imminent d i v i n e s p i r i t i n nature.
Thoreau^. was
a l r e a d y predisposed to be responsive to the c a l l .
His
commencement p i e c e o f t h a t year, e n t i t l e d "The Commercial
S p i r i t " repudiated, as d i d Wordsworth, the primacy of " g e t t i n g
and spending" as human o b j e c t i v e s and pleaded that mankind
should c u l t i v a t e the "moral a f f e c t i o n s " and get i n t o harmony
with the "wonderful world" around them.
From 1837 onwards
Thoreau stayed a p u p i l of Emerson who sought i n a l l ways to
help him.
For e i g h t years Thoreau pursued a v a r i e d career as
nature w r i t e r , poet, e s s a y i s t , and e d i t o r o f the D i a l --an
avant garde magazine, as w e l l as t u t o r to some of Emerson's
n i e c e s and nephews.
Although he wrote a great d e a l , much of
which was of high merit, anything i n the nature of f i n a n c i a l
success eluded him, and by 1844 he had returned to the f a m i l y
b u s i n e s s -- the p e n c i l f a c t o r y .
However i n 1845 both to clear h i m s e l f o f debts and h i s
head of a tangle of emotions Thoreau withdrew to a small s i t e
next to the t i n y l a k e l e t c a l l e d Walden Pond where Emerson
had l e n t him a few a c r e s .
U n t i l 1847 Thoreau attempted
to g a i n s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y by farming h i s s m a l l - h o l d i n g and to
acquire s p i r i t u a l u n i t y with nature by s o l i t a r y communion
with i t .
The whole episode would be o f l i t t l e i n t e r e s t had
i t not, u n l i k e c o u n t l e s s s i m i l a r experiments undertaken i n
the vastness o f America by i n d i v i d u a l s , f a m i l i e s and communes
of a l l s i z e s down to the present day, engendered two
c e l e b r a t e d l i t e r a r y works -- A Week on the Concord and
Merimack R i v e r s , and (now the more famous) Walden published
i n 1854.
T h i s n a r r a t e d h i s mental and s p i r i t u a l experiences
at Walden e s p e c i a l l y developing the metaphor o f seasonal
renewal i n the springtime as a f a b l e o f s p i r i t u a l r e b i r t h ,
and d e c l a r i n g Thoreau's f a i t h i n "the unquestionable a b i l i t y
of man to e l e v a t e h i s l i f e by conscious endeavour".
Walden
was thus n o t so much a biography o r a p i e c e o f nature w r i t i n g ,
but a t r a c t -- a l b e i t o f a s u p e r i o r k i n d .
When he wrote Walden Two, P r o f e s s o r Skinner was
attempting to answer an ancient q u e s t i o n which c l e a r l y had been
on h i s mind f o r a l o n g time -- indeed i t may have been the
o r i g i n a l stimulus to h i s s t u d i e s i n l e a r n i n g and c o n d i t i o n i n g .
T h i s q u e s t i o n was the one to which P l a t o , i n the f o u r t h
century B.C., devoted h i s dialogue Protagoras, which purported
to be a d i s c u s s i o n between Socrates and Protogaras, the most
eminent o f the S o p h i s t s o f t h a t time, and i n i t s form at
l e a s t was v e r y simple -- "Can v i r t u e be taught?", o r
e q u i v a l e n t l y , "With a p p r o p r i a t e teaching, can v i r t u e be
learned?".
S o p h i s t s down the c e n t u r i e s have had a bad
p r e s s -- s o p h i s t r y as we know i s a synonym f o r c a s u i t r y and
f o r the a r t o f "making the worse seem the b e t t e r cause"
a p r a c t i c e a p p r o p r i a t e to lawyers or J e s u i t s !
But t h i s i s
q u i t e undeserved, the h i s t o r i c a l s o p h i s t s -- from sophistes
(man o f wisdom or knowledge) — were b a s i c a l l y educptors who
f o r fees taught men newly a r r i v e d i n the middle o r upper
echelons o f Greek s o c i e t y the elements o f h i g h e r c u l t u r e ,
i n c l u d i n g l i t e r a t u r e , oratory, and the a r t o f i n t e l l e c t u a l
discussion.
F i n a l l y many s o p h i s t s met the i n c r e a s i n g demand
f o r t r a i n i n g c l i e n t s i n c i v i l l i f e i n c l u d i n g l e g a l and
p o l i t i c a l argument.
This accounts f o r t h e i r bad r e p u t a t i o n
in l a t e r antiquity.
However i t i s c e r t a i n l y true to say
t h a t much o f the animosity d i r e c t e d a t them d e r i v e d from the
i r r i t a t i o n o f the o l d e r a r i s t o c r a c y a t the s o p h i s t ' s s k i l l
at d e v e l o p i n g p l e b i a n s who could hold t h e i r own i n the
Greek e q u i v a l e n t s o f the salon and the State l e g i s l a t u r e .
P l a t o ' s c r e d e n t i a l s , both as an a r i s t o c r a t and an i n t e l l e c t u a l
were impeccable -- i f he had been born i n Boston he would have
been a L o w e l l !
Correspondingly he could a f f o r d to t r e a t
s o p h i s t s with the r e s p e c t he o b v i o u s l y f e l t f o r the best of
them.
In the dialogue he honours Pratogoras by making
him the spokesman who poses the q u e s t i o n t h a t P l a t o and others
f e l t to be the c r u c i a l one of t h e i r time — an anxious p e r i o d
o f wars and t y r a n n i e s .
Protagoras n a r r a t e s the myth of
Epimetheus and Prometheus.
These T i t a n s had p r o v i d e d mankind
with a l l resources and s k i l l s except one.
That was the a r t
o f l i v i n g together.
"Zeus, t h e r e f o r e , f e a r i n g the t o t a l
d e s t r u c t i o n o f our race, sent Hermes to impart to man .... respe
f o r others and a sense of j u s t i c e " .
Hermes asked how he
should d i s t r i b u t e these q u a l i t i e s ;
to a few experts o r t o a l l
alike?
"To a l l " s a i d Zeus, "Let a l l have t h e i r share".
I t i s to t h i s problem t h a t Skinner's Walden Two was addressed.
How can we i n an age o f wars and t y r a n n i e s prevent the
d e s t r u c t i o n of our race?
P l a t o h i m s e l f gave one r e c i p e f o r a s o c i e t y t h a t should
be immune to s e l f - d e s t r u c t i o n .
This was the s t a t e described
i n the v e r y l o n g dialogue c a l l e d The R e p u b l i c which i s regarded
as the e a r l i e s t example of U t o p i a n l i t e r a t u r e preceding by
some 1800 years More's Utopia the book which gave i t s name
to the genre. With P l a t o i t i s hard to d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n
what he means s e r i o u s l y and what i s mere jeu d ' e s p r i t .
Consequently on account of The Republic he has been regarded by
many as the f a t h e r of f a s c i s m .
Be t h a t as i t may, P l a t o ' s
d e s c r i p t i o n f o r the i d e a l commonwealth i s p a r t p o l i t i c a l , p a r t
educational.
The s t a t e , which economically i s communisitic,
i s run by a s m a l l i s h group of "guardians",
These however do
not a t t a i n t h e i r p o s i t i o n e n t i r e l y by b i r t h , but are s e l e c t e d
and t r a i n e d . The education of the guardians occupies an
important p l a c e i n the book.
The Republic has had numerous
sucessors i n a l l ages. In t h e i r book The Quest f o r Utopia
Negley and P a t r i c k l i s t two or three other c l a s s i c a l ones
i n a d d i t i o n to The Republic, some t h i r t y or f o r t y u t o p i a s . o r
books of Utopian tendency p u b l i s h e d between 1500 and 1850,
and no l e s s than 152 brought out between 1850 and 1950.
A
few of these works are s a t i r e s and burlesques, but the great
m a j o r i t y were s e r i o u s l y intended as at the l e a s t i n d i c a t i n g
moral i d e a l s to which human s o c i e t y should a s p i r e .
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Walden Two i s not i n f a c t a Utopia.
In the book and
i n l a t e r w r i t i n g s Skinner acknowledges i t s Utopian tendency,
. and mentions i t as d e s c r i b i n g an "Utopian community".
The
book i s i n form o f a n o v e l .
I t commences with the n a r r a t o r , a
P r o f e s s o r B u ^ r r i s ( o b v i o u s l y intended to be Burrhus F. Skinner
h i m s e l f , although a p r o f e s s o r o f p h i l o s o p h y r a t h e r than of
psychology), being i n v i t e d by students to v i s i t a community o f
about a thousand persons somewhere i n r u r a l New England, and
named Walden Two i n r e f e r e n c e to Thoreau's e a r l i e r experiment.
We could perhaps suppose that Skinner's i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of
h i s imaginary community with the f i r s t Walden was i n some degree
p r u d e n t i a l o r a t l e a s t intended to negate p o s s i b l e i d e o l o g i c a l
a s s o c i a t i o n s with the m a j o r i t y o f e a r l i e r experimental
communities which tended to be r e l i g i o u s l y i n s p i r e d l i k e that
of the Rappites a t New Harmony i n Indiana, or by s o c i a l i s t i c
t h e o r i e s l i k e that o f Robert Owen a t the same p l a c e , or to
p r a c t i c e communism i n wives l i k e the Oneida community.
Also
by i n v o k i n g the memory of Emerson and Thoreau — numbered
with the Founding Fathers of the American R e p u b l i c i n the
h a g i o l o g y o f United S t a t e s h i s t o r y -- Walden Two could perhaps
be r e c o g n i z e d as an essay i n a great t r a d i t i o n as American
as the S t a r s and S t r i p e s or apple p i e .
Whether any such
p o l i t i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n s crossed Skinner's mind i s unknowable.
I t i s more l i k e l y t h a t Skinner wished to remind h i s readers o f
Thoreau's a f f i r m a t i o n o f f a i t h i n the " a b i l i t y o f man to e l e v a t e
h i s l i f e by conscious endeavour".
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However;
B u r r i s , a s Skinner persona number o n e , s h o r t l y
a f t e r a r r i v i n g a t Walden Two meets h i s a l t e r ego -- the Skinner
persona number two, i n the form o f a Dr. T.E. F r a z i e r , the
founder, i n s p i r e r , and l e a d e r of the community.
What dramatic
t e n s i o n as there i s i n the n o v e l i s generated mainly by a
c e r t a i n amount o f sham f i g h t i n g and d i s p u t a t i o n betweem B u r r i s
and F r a z i e r .
In these d i a l o g u e s , which c o n s t i t u t e the e s s e n t i a l
f a b r i c o f the book, B u r r i s appears as the s i n c e r e but timid
liberal.
As i n any p l a y by George Bernard Shaw, Skinner as
author, can award the best l i n e s to h i s persona number two,
F r a z i e r , the prophet, and i n f a c t does.
The comparison with
Shaw i s n o t an i d l e one; Walden Two, s u r p r i s i n g l y , has no
"Preface" i n the Shavian manner, but i s d e d i c a t e d to W.A.S.
and G.B.S.
The former we cannot i d e n t i f y but the l a t t e r i s
c l e a r l y Bernard Shaw. L i k e many Shaw p l a y s , the dramatic
i n t e r e s t o f Walden Two i s minimal and i t i s e s s e n t i a l l y a t r a c t
i n n a r r a t i v e form arranged P l a t o f a s h i o n as e f f e c t i v e l y a
dialogue.
However as P l a t o o f t e n d i d , and as Shaw sometimes d i d , Skinner
the author p l a y s f a i r with h i s readers.
U n l i k e the c h a r i s m a t i c
r e l i g i o u s l e a d e r or the f a n a t i c a l p o l i t i c a l l e a d e r , Skinner
persona number two as F r a z i e r i s courteous, moderate and
reasonable i n tone, and almost goes out of h i s way to introduce
p o i n t s a g a i n s t h i m s e l f and h i s own ideas.
I t i s u s e f u l to read Walden Two i n the context of i t s
own time. I t d i s c u s s e s many l i b e r a l and r e f o r m i s t concerns
o f the p e r i o d 1930-19^-8 which are now p a s t h i s t o r y , having
become i d e o l o g i c a l l y accepted even i f not f u l l y i n c o r p o r a t e d
i n t o p r a c t i c a l l i v i n g . As such we may mention the equal s t a t u s
o f women, the equal involvement o f men i n domestic and
c h i l d - r e a r i n g tasks, student choice i n school and u n i v e r s i t y
c u r r i c u l a , and the encouragement i n a l l i t s forms of musical,
l i t e r a r y and a r t i s t i c a c t i v i t y , even i f done badly.* In f a c t
a l l t h i s i s so u n c o n t r o v e r s i a l a f t e r n e a r l y f o u r decades t h a t we
may wonder whether Walden Two has anything to do with Dr.
Skinner the neo-behavourist, and i s not sole]y an expression of
Mr. Skinner flje l i b e r a l reformer. However, even i f the book's
concerns are much wider than the problem o f c h i l d education as
i l l u m i n a t e d by Neobehaviourism, nonetheless i t has a c e r t a i n
amount to say about operant c o n d i t i o n i n g .
P r i o r to c o n s i d e r i n g
t h i s i t i s convenient to e x p l a i n the g e n e r a l s e t t i n g
envisaged i n Walden Two.
The community occupies a s i z e a b l e
t r a c t o f l a n d which comprises f a c t o r i e s , workshops and farms,
a l s o r e s i d e n c e s , d o r m i t o r i e s , assembly and r e c r e a t i o n rooms
and b u i l d i n g s , as w e l l as gardens and s p o r t s f i e l d s , schools
and i n f i r m a r i e s , a l l of which are owned and administered by the
community as a c o r p o r a t i o n .
Marriage and p r o p e r t y r i g h t s
are e n t i r e l y as r e g u l a t e d by the o r d i n a r y laws o f the State
and the U.S.A.
E a r l y marriage and c h i l d r a i s i n g are encouraged
but not made mandatory.
The community members enjoy a l l t h e i r
c i v i l r i g h t s without c o e r c i o n or i n t e r f e r e n c e by persuasion.
However there are some overtones r e c a l l i n g e a r l i e r U t o p i a n
writings.
Each member of a v o c a t i o n or p r o f e s s i o n has to work
a d e f i n e d number o f hours per day, the norm i s f o u r .
(This
r e l a t e s to the idea put forward by Shaw t h a t with modern
technology mankind could l i v e w e l l on three hours work a day).
However to achieve t h i s some f r u g a l i t y i s p r a c t i c e d , f o r
example, r e m i n i s c e n t of P l a t o ' s Republic and More's Utopia,
r e l a t i v e p l a i n n e s s and inexpensiveness i n dress and personal
adornment are encouraged. F r a z i e r e x p l i c i t l y r e l a t e s t h i s
to Thoreau as exemplifying p e r s o n a l s i m p l i c i t y and abstinence.
The reader however does not have to progress f a r i n t o the
book before encountering the ^ j l a i m put i n t o the mouth of
F r a z i e r t h a t "behavioural e n g i n e e r i n g " or "behavioural technology
a l r e a d y e x i s t s i n a s t a t e of p e r f e c t i o n competent f o r
s u c c e s s f u l a p p l i c a t i o n to the education o f c h i l d r e n i n " s e l f
control".
Thus c h i l d r e n are taught to wait f o r f i v e minutes
before starting to eat a p p e t i z i n g food, or i f g i v e n a l o l l i p o p
to save i t up a l l day.
The book i s a l i t t l e u n s a t i s f a c t o r y
i n t h a t i t i s not made c l e a r j u s t how the i n i t i a l s e l f - c o n t r o l
i s induced.
Presumably i t i s by " t r a d i t i o n " , the younger
c h i l d r e n f o l l o w the o l d e r ones i n what they do.
In that
r e s p e c t Walden Two i s not e s s e n t i a l l y d i f f e r e n t from the
English "public school" *
Otherwise g e n e r a l l y speaking Walden Two emphasizes
not n e g a t i v e but p o s i t i v e reinforcement f o r behaviour t r a i n i n g .
That i s to say good behaviour i s rewarded.
A l l these matters
l e a d one i n t o deep water and t h e i r d i s c u s s i o n would r e q u i r e a
book as l o n g as Walden Two i t s e l f .
In the present day Walden Two i s b e s t read i n c o n j u n c t i o n
w i t h Skinner's more formal essay f i r s t p r i n t e d i n 1971, some
2 3 years subsequently.
T h i s was somewhat p r o v o c a t i v e l y
e n t i t l e d Beyond Freedom and D i g n i t y .
The t i t l e o b v i o u s l y
r e v e r b e r a t e d with echoes of the mad p h i l o s o p h e r F r i e d r i c h
N i e t s c h e whose most famous work was c a l l e d Beyond Good and E v i l .
RightLy or wrongly few can be found nowadays to p r a i s e N^&tsche.
But, to a l l a y alarm, we should say that there i s no p a r t i c u l a r l y
c l o s e connection between N ^ t s c h e and Skinner.
The p o i n t of the
"beyond" i n Skinner's t i t l e , as i n N i e t s c h e ' s , i s a p e r f e c t l y
r e s p e c t a b l e and s e n s i b l e one, namely t h a t b i g words l i k e "good"
" e v i l " "freedom", " d i g n i t y " s u c h as emerge d a i l y from the mouths
o f statesmen, p o l i t i c i a n s , demagogues, and even w e l l meaning
l i b e r a l s , should not be used i n s e r i o u s d i s c o u r s e without a n a l y s i
Were we teachers of philosophy, psychology, or p o l i t i c a l s c i e n c e ,
we would u n c o n d i t i o n a l l y recommend Skinner's "Beyond" f o r
c r i t i c i a l review and, i f p o s s i b l e , r e f u t a t i o n by a l l our p u p i l s .
T h i s would be a worthwhile e x e r c i s e because, as any honest and
open minded reading o f the t e x t w i l l show, Skinner makes a v e r y
s t r o n g case f o r the t h e s i s t h a t "freedom" i s l a r g e l y i l l u s o r y
and t h a t i n f a c t most o f our behaviour as w e l l as our conscious
r a t i o n a l i z a t i o n s r e s u l t from c o n d i t i o n i n g that we are unaware
of.
Any s e r i o u s students who b e l i e v e Skinner's arguments can
be e a s i l y r e f u t e d are recommended to t r y i t f o r themselves.
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We can assure them t h a t , unless they are d i a l e c t i c a l
geniuses, they w i l l f i n d i t a t b e s t an arduous experience,
and at worst a humbling one.
In t h i s r e s p e c t we have to hand i t
to Skinner; i n p a r a l l e l with Freud,he shows that man who
t h i n k s he i s f r e e i s i n the words o f Rousseau "everywhere i n
chains".
So much f o r freedom; what o f d i g n i t y ?
Skinner would
say t h a t having acknowledged t h a t they are not t r u l y
autonomous, humans, i n the i n t e r e s t of becoming more moral,
t h a t i s more e f f e c t i v e s o c i a l beings, should be prepared to
s a c r i f i c e some " d i g n i t y " .
In p r a c t i c e t h i s means i n
S k i n n e r i a n terms that we should be prepared to see the
e d u c a t i o n a l system r e v i z e d f u r t h e r i n the d i r e c t i o n of operant
c o n d i t i o n i n g . Here i t should be s a i d that, as i n Walden Two,
Skinner v e r y c a r e f u l l y r e p u d i a t e s any idea that negative
reinforcement, i . e . punishment, f i e r c e d i s a p p r o b a t i o n , harsh
d e p r i v a t i o n s , should be used i n the operant c o n d i t i o n i n g
of children.
H i s emphasis i s e n t i r e l y on a system of reward
f o r p o s i t i v e s o c i a l adjustments.
In a sense i t i s hard to see
how Skinnerism d i f f e r s from the march of o r d i n a r y e d u c a t i o n a l
r e s e a r c h and reform. Most parents, i f not b r u t a l i z e d baby
bashers would say they have been b r i n g i n g up t h e i r c h i l d r e n
on operant c o n d i t i o n i n g l i n e s .
Thus the p r a c t i c a l import of
Skinnerism other/than as an i n s p i r a t i o n to e n d u c a t i o n a l i s t s
i s not e n t i r e l y bbvious.
Skinner however r e p r e s e n t s h i m s e l f ,
no doubt t r u t h f u l l y , as motivated by a profound alarm
occasioned by the world's problems -- o v e r p o p u l a t i o n and
famine, or d e s t r u c t i o n by n u c l e a r war.
F o r t h i s reason we
must achieve a h i g h e r s o c i a l m o r a l i t y v i a the a l r e a d y e x i s t i n g
technology o f behaviour -- operant c o n d i t i o n i n g .
I f Skinnerism has a d e f e c t i t i s not n e c e s s a r i l y i n i t s
a e t i o l o g y of human behaviour, or i t s b e l i e f i n the p r a c t i c a l
e f f i c a c y of b e h a v i o u r a l technology, but p u r e l y i n t h a t
i n t e l l e c t u a l l y speaking i t r e p r e s e n t s a -giyle of t h i n k i n g t h a t
would r a p i d l y emerge i n e f f e c t i v e actionjjxri a world without
politics.
A p o l i t i c a l s c i e n t i s t r e a d i n g Walden Two would
be s t r u c k by the undoubted f a c t that d u r i n g the l i f e of i t s
founder and while i t s s c a l e was l i m i t e d i t could continue
as an enclave without p o l i t i c s — an extended f a m i l y , l i k e some
t r i b e s i n v a r i o u s q u i e t p a r t s of the world which e x i s t without
r u l e r s , f a c t i o n s or i n t r i g u e s .
In t h i s r e s p e c t Walden Two_
resembles every l i t e r a r y U t o p i a t h a t ever was — i t i s ~ d e v o i d
of p o l i t i c s .
For that v e r y reason i t i s absurd as some w r i t e r s
do to c a s t i g a t e Skinner who, as Skinner the c i t i z e n i s c l e a r l y
a mild-mannered l i b e r a l , as a n e o - f a s c i s t , e t c . , or e q u a l l y
to c r i t i c i z e him, as was done i n the l a s t century with S h e l l e y ,
f o r i m p r a c t i c a l i t y (an i n e f f e c t u a l angel f l u t t e r i n g h i s
wings i n the v o i d ) . Both a t t a c k s f a i l f o r i r r e l e v a n c y .
The prophet ("by which we mean one i n the s e c u l a r sense only)
has no duty other than to i n d i c a t e the g o a l .
I t i s the duty
of a s p e c i a l i s t of a d i f f e r e n t k i n d — the p o l i t i c i a n or
statesman -- to f i n d the way.
More could be s a i d about behaviourism i n i t s c l a s s i c a l
or "neo" forms. F o r example we could d i s c u s s the work of Roger
U l r i c h who has done important work on the causes o f a g g r e s s i o n .
The g e n e r a l tenor o f h i s r e s u l t s i s to show that i n a l l s p e c i e s ,
animal and human, p o s i t i v e reinforcement o f non-aggressive
behaviour i s f a r more b e n e f i c i a l i n m i n i f y i n g a g g r e s s i v e
responses than punishment.
U l r i c h has s i m i l a r l y done many
experiments c o n f i r m i n g Skinner's idea t h a t reward f o r good
behaviour i s a f a r s a f e r and more p r o d u c t i v e route than p u n i t i v e
measures.
The r e a d e r may t h i n k t h a t l i k e Balaam of o l d we came to
curse but stayed to b l e s s .
However, t r u l y i t seems that
Behaviourism which came i n l i k e a l i o n , though i t may not
q u i t e have gone out, i s comporting i t s e l f as a lamb.
A propoj* o f t h i s i t may be s a i d that i t i s , perhaps, a sign
of the times that some N e o b e h a v i o u r i s t s d i s c l a i m the t i t l e and
a s s e r t t h a t t h e i r sphere of r e s e a r c h i s j u s t " l e a r n i n g theory".
References.
is
The b i b l i o g r a p h y of Behaviourism and r e l a t e d s u b j e c t s
e x t e n s i v e . A l i s t of r e f e r e n c e s w i l l be s u p p l i e d on r e q u e s t .