At 1:37 PM -0600 2/18/01, jim clark wrote:
>Hi
>
>On Sun, 18 Feb 2001, Paul Brandon wrote:
>> Again, there has been a lot of talk in academia in the last decade about
>> the increasingly mercenary behavior of students.
>> This could result in _our_ reinforcing _them_ for making more idealistic
>> statements about their motives.
>
>Is there any _independent_ evidence for past reinforcement
>contingencies and/or for a change in these contingencies? My own
>impression is that the dominant message to students remains
>job-oriented.
It's a question of defining responses.
I'm not arguing that many of students' _choices_ can best be predicted by
their job prospects.
However, the behavior in question is answering surveys, which is not
necessarily controlled by the same contingencies as (for instance) choosing
majors.
Has there been a decrease in Social Work enrollments, with a corresponding
increase in the number of Philosophy majors?
Something about "Talking the talk" vs. "Walking the walk"?
* PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* Psychology Dept Minnesota State University, Mankato *
* 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 *
* http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html *
