ol. SKINNER-BOXED: The Legacy of Behaviorism For the aniropomorghi vow of her, American pycholony Sse a camp ew of pit Kee, The Act of Creston Thene 1s a Tie to admire the grace and persuasive power Oa fallin idea, and there sa ime 0 fea is hold ove ws. The time to Inory is when the ida is s0 widely shared that we no longer even otic ity when it x so deeply rooted thar it feels 10 us lke plain ommon sense, At the point when objections are not answered any- nore hecause they areno longer even raised, we are notin contol: we donot have the idea; thas us “This book is about a idea chat has attained just such a status in| bur society. The ide i thatthe best way to get something done isto provide a reward to people when they act dhe way we want them to Scholars have debate! che meaning and traced the development ofthe intellectual tradition known as behasiorsm. What interests me, though, is the popular (or pop) incarnation of this doctrine, the ‘ersion that lives in our collective consciousness and affects what we do every da. Th ‘Wisdom ofthis ecnigue s very rely held up Tor spection a '\ isopen to question is what exacdly people wll eceivé and under what izcumstances it willbe promised and delivered. We take for granted hi 1 7 id Tmanage employees: We promise hubBle gum to a Ave year-old fl Keeps quit inthe supermarket, We dangle an A before a teenager t0 iether ro study harder, We hold out the possibility of a Haveaian ofthe company’s produc. Frwll nor take more than a few paragraphs To make ‘we are deeply commited to this way of shinking and behaving. But41 THE CASE AGAINST REWARDS ly more ambiiows T want vo argue tat tee something profoundly wrongheaded abou this doctrine fssumeins are mieding sn he proces deere inrstaly objectionable and comeepeoduccve Ths ls comers rrp Foe PTR ay behaviorism usualy las To produce te consequences We nen takes up mos ofthe ages that follow os “Toole such an indents not to sugges that theres something ‘wrong with mos of the things that are used as rewards Tes nok bubble gum tel that the prblem, aor money nl nother 7 cases indispensable. What concerns mei he practice oT using these / ings as ewan To ake what people wan or need ander sd A pais. Ourateason pect oer worth moron ‘that” (the thing desired} but on the requirement that one must do [lism order to get that RIF BREMEN 1 HIE TATE PROPTE Tor TG Comp ARSe not "the way the word works as many insist. Iis nota fundamental Jaw of human nature. Iris but one way of thinking and speaking, of ‘organizing our experience and dealing with others. It may seem nat ral to us, bue i actually reflects a parsicular ideology that can be ‘questioned. believe that i's long past time for us to do so, The steep price we pay for our uncial allegiance tothe use of rewards is what ‘makes this story not ony ineriging but also deeply disconcerting. Pigeons and Rodents and Dogs Fiesta tage Gee eects fark apt eer tnrateoge esse ciple of Scientific Management, which [ender sits riae Safer SkinnerBoned 15 + A fll century eae, a system developed in England for man ing the behavior of schoo signed some students to monitor ‘BReis and divebuted ickes (redeemable for toys) to those who did that they were supposed ro do.” for a long animals have been domesticated, people have been sing eudimmentaryjacenive plans co tein thee pes. in short pop W¢havioriet might be said to predate and undedle her than the other way around. But a Few" nd the remarkable belifs just what is founders, wil help ws understas rewards are offered in everyday life Survivors of introductory rane {denned with Pavlov’ dogs) and operant or instrumental, condi- tioning (ented with Skinner’ ras). Classical conditioning begins fvth the observation chat some things produce natural responses: Rover slivater when he smells meat. By paring an artical ith the natural one — say ringing a bell when the steak appears — Rover comes to associate the two. Voila —a response has been con- focusing on such issues as how to time these ewards for best effect ‘But Skinneran theory basically codifes and bestows solemn scientific ’names on something fanilae to all of ws: "Do this and youl ge that” willed an organise to do “this” again Virtually everyone who has thought about the matter agrees that both ofthese principles ace sefl for describing how some learaing takes place. There is no shortage of familiar examples to flesh out the concepts. Anyone who has ever heard a toilet Rush while taking a shower and immediately jumped backward provides 2 living ust {This plan, smo what woald ater be call 3 “token economy” program of ‘wtanar mosis, was adopt by he a pac chon New Yo Cy im he ‘Fach renee ected ues any sp aed neni nyse mitment ee ve “6 | THE CASE AGAINST REWARDS tion of how one stimulus (a fushing sound) can come tobe associated ‘wih another (scalding water). Anyone who has ever watched a child Secle down ina huey when promised a teat for doing so knows that rewards can affect behavior, This book is more concemned with the second sort of lestning, ‘operant conditioning. To begin with, though, i focuses on a set of beliefs about this phenomenon and, by implication, about human beings. Skinnerians are not only interested in figuring out how rewaeda work; they ae apt to angue that virtually eveything we do — indeed, who we are — can be explained interms ofthe principle of reinforce: sient. This i the essence of behaviors, and ithe point F Oepar- ‘efor ous investigation. man who conducted oso il xpenments on rodents and pigeons and ote mos of is book boat ore This fact did ot ive hm panes ees peopl to Cation. Ara havo eyo se more complex than a pron inlay pre because you have ves cords but th theory of ean that explains how a bird rappel naboratory apparatus called # Skinner box emesto peck repestely a kag ices ocx tae sto anion both tory Bo are Se ne, tho ied in 1990 a the age of eighty-six was not most people Oe ofthe fit hing you ete when adn is oko at es hard offer an unfair of che man’ views es ls dificult {0 ase she technique of reduc ad absurdum m challenging them. (Cis ave exeatmed, "Buti tha tue, then bees the fobvousy Tadkcrous] conclusion that follows trcoming fered, Linn would no aches are” For example, he ised thc organs including ue her are nothing more than “repertirer of behaviors” and Tse Dhan can ef expla utes be ld vie mental sonngencie” "A peron isnt an orginating ape he 3 ioc, a pont which many Reetc and environmen conditions come together in 3 join elex™ But this would seem ro imply that ‘Stinner Boxed | 7 dren no “elas we us se he tem, would ie noe Yes inde Stel Skinne "ai ately Fic Skinner the man — nor the scent, but the fellow sae breaktast and told» good joke and became lonely sme sree ee wasa ella poate sadn nthe ti eto Skinners emote we read: am sometimes ad “Do you think of yours 2 you think fe {you st The aver eS fas kao ny behavior Sy gnen moment bat been nothing more tha the pdt a my SEL Endowments ny personal ory andthe cane ering FL seg sbout haan ha, ave wren he audigy a somrerson. r< enough oer the course of four hundeed pages, the book gives Sete he toneoe ce ling the ory someone ne {Bent care mach about him, in fat (His mother death elated nou ecling ad the proces of asing his two daughters is de Tred af were one of Frederic Taylor’ effceny studies) Thi ‘Seanny detachment permeated his ie. “When | fished Beyond Feedom ond Dignity Skinner once said “hada very sang eng fiat hadnt even written the book.» i] usematuralyeame out of hy fy behavior and not Because of anything called & ‘me or an ini’ ay ‘rte sl har ges it reise sian nan ingpoperaton to fish ofthe features of being buman that we // esse suchas creativiys love moraley and freedom. Talking ater 7 SM sony “vera beaviog” a skngs On sent alFng Soe isnot mich ofa each to reduce creat) ta series of novel Behar= invacected by the etvironmene “Beethoven,” Skinner sid (Fer bally behaved, = ‘nas somone who, when he was very young, aquired ll he available Tunica the me, and the, beceune of dings that happened co im Peronlly ab achlent nd varios e introduced new things which Dao beauly. So he went on doing them, and he wrote because he ‘ras bihly enforced for wen sfinarens eat wisn n 158) 40 1984 Eaers om hos