The Giver by Lois Lowry reminded me of Skinner’s Walden II. Although not as extreme as The Giver, Walden II shows similarities. Jonas, the main character in The Giver, lives in a utopian society where operant conditioning is used. Jonas recieves “pleasurable memories” as a reward for coping with the painful memories. Jonas’ sister learns to ride a bike after recieving praise from her parents. When I first learned about Walden II, I couldn’t help but think of The Giver.
Meet the Parents. Not only a hilarious movie, but also an educational example of Skinner’s operant conditioning (who wudda thought?!) One of the most memorable part of the movie is when Jinxy uses and flushes the toilet. Jack Byrnes (Robert DeNiro) trained Jinxy using operant conditioning….or maybe not. Although he explains in the movie that he taught the cat step by step to use the toilet, it is not apparent or not if he used rewards as a method for teaching the cat. Fellow youtubers argued that Jinxy’s toilet training was not operant conditioning, but rather classical conditioning (A process of behavior modification in which a subject learns to respond in a desired manner such that a neutral stimulus (the conditioned stimulus) is repeatedly presented in association with a stimulus (the unconditioned stimulus) that elicits a natural response (the unconditioned response) until the neutral stimulus alone elicits the same response (now called the conditioned response). For example, in Pavlov’s experiments, food is the unconditioned stimulus that produces salivation, a reflex or unconditioned response. The bell is the conditioned stimulus, which eventually produces salivation in the absence of food. This salivation is the conditioned response. -compliments of www.dictionary.com)
Decide for yourself here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5awaskR7lg&feature=related
Who needs suspension when you can have a GED?! Should our principal get us a bunch of these devices to “decelerate teenagers?” Check out this article! http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/03/23/shock_treatment/
April 8, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I remember that scene. I think the youtubers are wrong; Jinxy was trained through operant conditioning (although we don’t see the system of rewards and punishments at work) and not classical. Classical conditioning deals with naturally occurring behaviors and responses (reflexes).