> Mike Scoles wrote (regarding Kamin): > > >I have wondered how a > >rat-runner interested in basic conditioning phenomena can pass > >himself off as an expert in these other areas! >
And Jim Dougan concurred:
> Likewise, I have always wondered how a pigeon runner like Richard > Herrnstein could pass himself as an expert in the same field of > discourse - though obviously at the extreme opposite end of the > spectrum from Kamin. >
To which Stephen responds....
Both comments carry the implication that only those with formal credentials in a particular field are entitled to contribute to it. I have to disagree.
Actually, that isn't exactly what I meant to imply - a lack of expertise in the field - though in Herrnstein's case "statistical impropriety" has certainly been claimed by some.
I have just always been fascinated that two of the major contributors the animal learning literature had similar "side" careers in the field of genetic determinism, albeit with drastically different views.
I have learned something new in this thread, though - I had always thought that Kamin was much younger - but apparently he received his Ph.D. at Harvard in about 1954? Curiously, that would put him there at about the same time as Herrnstein was in graduate school. Given their very different views, I wonder if they clashed on this issue in grad school? It might even explain some of their later conflicts on this issue - which were anything but friendly.
Does anyone have any firm information on this?
-- Jim
--- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
