I don't recall the part of the story about hand position, but I have seen a video of Skinner recounting the story about students causing a professor to limit the area of the room from which he taught. It was fairly close to what I had heard.
Rick Stevens School of Behavioral and Social Sciences University of Louisiana at Monroe On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 2:09 PM, Jim Matiya <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > That goes back many years ago...I seem to recall when the prof would bring > his hand closer to the front chest area, the students would write more and > more notes (do student still take notes today?). Then they began to > "condition" more whenever he began to move his hand toward the opening of > his shirt (read writing copious more notes...or at least appear to take > more notes). The students got the prof to put his hand into his shirt > (read, write more notes) Then after a few more classes, the students had > conditioned him to walk in front of class and begin lecturing with his hand > inside his shirt with a more or less Napoleon "look." > > Is it true or not? Chris Green would know more than I about history > > > Jim > > Jim Matiya > > Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a > listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of > which have the potential to turn a life around...Leo Buscaglia > > > > Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2015 11:22:06 -0500 > > From: [email protected] > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [tips] Behaviorist Prof Urban Legend > > > > > > I do a variation of that story in my class on shaping. I have the > > class discover a reinforcer that works with me, which turns out > > to be their attentive looking and smiling. Then I take them > > through the steps of shaping me to move to the side of the room > > and turn off a light with my nose. > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [email protected] > > Professor > > Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu > > Appalachian State University > > Boone, NC 28608 > > USA > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > > > On 1/8/2015 10:58 AM, Rick Froman wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > I am preparing to teach Theories of Learning this semester and I > > > remembered the story told during my graduate training about a > > > professor being shaped by students to lecture toward the corner > > > of the room. They evidently paid close attention or performed > > > some other reinforcing stimulus whenever the professor moved in a > > > certain direction until he was actually lecturing to the wall. > > > > > > It sounds like a clear urban legend (of the hoist of his own > > > petard type) and Snopes > > > <http://snopes.com/college/pranks/trained.asp> classifies it as a > > > legend (of unverifiable nature) and concludes that, “Many people > > > claim to have been in a class where such training took place (or > > > to know someone who was); undoubtedly a few attempts have > > > actually been made.” > > > > > > However, it appears from this site > > > <http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00C0Tw> > > > that the anecdote actually may be sourced to none other than B. > > > F. Skinner himself. It is funny that the version I remember was > > > the one described by Carl Rogers on that site: a behaviorist > > > professor being manipulated by his students. In fact, according > > > to Skinner, the classroom version of the story involved > > > behaviorist students training a humanist professor and he also > > > recounted a time he did the same to a speaker at a professional > > > conference. > > > > > > This probably isn’t news to many of you but I thought it was > > > quite an unexpected result to see that the story was not a pure > > > legend or parable but was described as fact in two versions by B. > > > F. Skinner himself. > > > > > > Rick > > > > > > Dr. Rick Froman > > > > > > Professor of Psychology > > > > > > Box 3519 > > > > > > John Brown University > > > > > > 2000 W. University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 > > > > > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > > > > > (479) 524-7295 > > > > > > http://bit.ly/DrFroman > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13283.28aec02f231f4c4baa9a4a58ae139710&n=T&l=tips&o=41440 > > or send a blank email to > leave-41440-13283.28aec02f231f4c4baa9a4a58ae139...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13526.d532f8e870faf8a0d8f6433b7952f38d&n=T&l=tips&o=41450 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-41450-13526.d532f8e870faf8a0d8f6433b7952f...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=41451 or send a blank email to leave-41451-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
