Book Reading #2 - Opening Skinner's Box

Comments:
Comment 1
Comment 2

References:
Title: Opening Skinner's Box
Author: Lauren Slater
Editor: Angela von der Lippe, 2004

Summary:
In this book, Lauren Slater describes ten different psychology experiments that broke the mold and became controversial for one reason or another.

In each chapter, Slater carefully describes the story behind one side of the issue, usually the scientist's, describing their past up until they began their experiment. Then, she describes counterarguments that refute the previous experiments. Occasionally these reversals are scientifically based, but more often they are personal stories of people whose actions refute the theory.

For example, for B.F. Skinner, she described his past and experiments, including his cages like the one at left. She also described some of the rumors and legends about him that have propagated over the years. Then, she changed sides and showed the softer side of him from the perspective of his family members, and tried to refute the rumors.

Discussion:
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, it was a very interesting read and set up the debates on these issues very well. By the end of each chapter, I felt that I could argue both for and against the issue at hand in equal measure. Additionally, the narrative style made most of the stories riveting from start to finish.

However, I didn't like a lot of the chapter material. Many of the stories were so depressing that I could barely keep reading. I understand that it is unavoidable in some cases because of the subject matter, but I feel like in some cases it was unnecessary. In summary, while I enjoyed reading the book the first time, I'm probably not going to read it again.

(Image courtesy of: blog.games.com)