Opening Skinner's Box - Full Blog

Reference:
Opening Skinner's Box
Lauren Slater
2004 W. W. Norton & Company

Summary:

Opening Skinner's box is a book in which the author, Lauren Slater, reviews and discusses many of the most important psychological experiments throughout the history of the field.  She starts with the namesake of the book, B. F. Skinner, and his experiments with conditioning behavior via positive reinforcement.  She then examines the experiments of Stanley Milgram, which used controversial methods to examine the types of behavior that the presence of an authority figure can enforce.  Next she looks to David Rosenhan, who along with several volunteers made up psychological distresses in order to commit themselves to various mental institutions. They then reverted to their normal behavior and observed how long it took for them to convince the staff that they were not insane.  Slater next examines the work of John Darley and Bibb Latane, which documented the famous Kitty Genovese murder in which over thirty witnesses did nothing to help the victim.  After a chapter covering the concept of cognitive dissonance, Slater covers Harry Harlowe and his experiments that replaced the mothers of baby chimps with a artificially constructed surrogate "mother."  Next on the list is Bruce Alexander and his observations concerning how rats in a Utopian environment were far less likely to drink opiate laced water than rats in a depressing environment.  Slater then reviews the thought experiments of Elizabeth Loftus, who found that it was possible to create a false, though detailed, memory through the right suggestions. 
Next comes the research behind mapping the brain, and what causes memories to be formed or forgotten.  Finally, Slater covers the history and contemporary use of lobotomies to relieve psychological distress.

Discussion:
This book was both interesting and disturbing for a variety of reasons.  While I enjoy learning new things about people and the way that we think, this book also brought some unpleasant truths about human nature to light.  While I found the historic studies valuable, I often found myself at odds with Slater's take on things, and at times I could not have disagreed with her more.  Still, I was glad to have a dissenting voice to make me analyze and think over my own views a second time.  For me, in the final analysis, I care far more about an individual's behavior than I do about their motives.  Sometimes the best intentions cause the worst outcomes, and vice versa.  In my opinion, it's the result that matters most.