Opening Skinner's Box

Opening Skinner's Box
By Lauren Slater

Summary:

Slater explores 10 great psychological experiments and provides an interesting perspective on the lives behind these great scientists. Also, she displays her vulnerability by opening about her life, experience, and family.

Chapter 1: This chapter delves into the life of the famous neo-behaviorist, B.F. Skinner. She talks to his family and enters his home to gain insight into the man who developed the theory on operant conditioning.

Chapter 2: Next, Slater enters the world of the 1960's and revisits the Stanley Milgram Project: Obedience to Authority.

Chapter 3: If you ever wondered how simple it is to "play crazy" and spend time in a mental hospital, then this chapter has you covered. Slater provides detail on David Rosenham's experiments about diagnosing the insane and then conducts the experiment in modern day.

Chapter 4: Then Slater discusses the work of John Darley and Bibb Latane on the effects of being in a group and its impact on personal responsibility.

Chapter 5: This chapter describes how Leon Festinger discovered "cognitive dissonance".

Chapter 6: Slater candidly explores Harry Harlow's monkey experiments that still make my skin crawl weeks after reading the chapter.

Chapter 7: Then Slater notes on the complexities of addiction through the work produced by Bruce Alexander.

Chapter 8: After reading the experiments by Elizabeth Loftus, it leaves you wondering if all of your childhood memories are true.

Chapter 9: Moving further into the subject of memory, Slater share the sea slug experiments of Eric Kandel and his great advances in neuroscience.

Chapter 10: The last chapter ends with Antonio Moniz's discovery of the lobotomy and its implication in today's surgeries.


Discussion:

This was my favorite book for the semester! I enjoyed her opinions and personal stories. It was a brief introduction to many experiments that have an impact in our lives and HCI.