Opening Skinner's Box: Chapters 1 and 2

Chapter 1

This first chapter deals with the psychologist featured in the book's title, which I find strange given how usually books don't deal with the most prominent of its subject matters right at the beginning. Nevertheless, it serves as an interesting opener. Lauren Slater's style of writing is most definitely different than any other book we have read so far. It's almost novel-esque in the way that it is written, a bit more concerned in writing a more compelling narrative than other books that we have read. In terms of the content of the chapter, I am actually pretty surprised that Skinner actually garnered a lot of negative publicity and a tarnished reputation for his work in psychology. I hadn't read before about how people immediately reacted with his work before, but considering how important his Skinner Box concept is, I was not expecting it to have been controversial. Today it's simply accepted as almost an axiom of human psychology, with little opinion given to the famous man himself, so it's surprising to learn that people regarded him as a brain-washer of sorts who looked for loopholes to exploit in human psychology. The rumor that he drove his own daughter to madness is especially vicious, giving a good idea as to how hated his findings were.

Chapter 2

Slater continues painting well-known psychological experiences in a different light, this time Stanley Milgram's "Obedience to Authority" that we read last. The book was written by Milgram himself, but it never occurred to me that 1) he didn't discuss the impact of his work simply because what we read was his work, and 2) he seemed to gloss over or downright ignore the severe criticisms people had for the experiment. Milgram's discussions of how people reacted seems almost sterile compared to Slater's own experiences. Though, on the other hand, the people she spoke to were far older by that time, these experiments having percolated in their minds for years before they had a chance to discuss them at length with her, in some cases for the very first time. Jacob's case especially brings a different light to the experiment, considering he was so distraught with his personal life that at the time he barely thought through his own morals. He wasn't like the dainty nurse lady Milgram spoke of, who seems to have led an idyllic life and she had plenty of psychological "room" to evaluate her morality in the middle of the experiment. I don't think these considerations are taken into account in Milgram's experiment to such a degree, and in some ways it's mostly because he likely didn't know about this.

I also found the results of his experiments very intriguing, because like Skinner, Milgram's reputation and prestige as a professional suffered greatly. Given the stature that he was given and the fact that professional ethics came to be a large issue during Milgram's time, this experiment took a toll not only on his career, but also on his health. This was a different dimension that we never learned about while reading Milgram's own work.