I've been following the tips on line discussion group of my book, OPENING
SKINNER'S BOX, and I want to thank you for supporting it, but more
importantly for understanding that the Skinner chapter contains the
reiteration of a myth for the purposes of dismantling it.
Seems to me a much more effective method of dismantling the myth would have been to interview Deborah Skinner Bozin. By leaving her out of the story and expressing some doubts about what Deborah's sister, Julie Vargas, was reporting, I suspect many readers will learn the myth for the first time from the book and go away believing it. The confusion is evident in the book reviews that have been published. The Daily Telegraph published an apology for their review, and the Guardian published a response from Deborah Skinner Bozin.
Having purchased the book and read the first chapter on Skinner, I find its treatment of his actual accomplishments to be rather superficial. Brief mention of basic operant schedules that could have been pulled from an introductory text. At one point, Vargas urges Slater to "do your homework" and actually read Beyond Freedom and Dignity before writing about it. To her credit, Slater did go back and read BFD, and her final assessment of it and Skinner is ultimately balanced and in many respects praising. But based on the first chapter, this appears to be a book designed to fan flames and tell an interesting story, and in that regard it has been successful.
Stuart Vyse Professor and Chair Phone: 860-439-2339 Department of Psychology Fax: 860-439-5300 Connecticut College Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] New London, CT Web: http://www.conncoll.edu
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