Behaviorism
Several classes ago we discussed behaviorism as the study of cause and effect. This is when we tried to have one person perform a task simply by giving that person positive reinforcement for actions that were part of the overall task (Nate doing the tango). During this class we also talked about how free will played a role in behaviorism.
What I wanted to talk about was how behaviorism will be different on an individual basis as well as between species, and how I think it has a lot to do with intelligence level. To explain what I mean, think about training a dog. Everybody that has trained a dog knows that if you want your dog to learn to sit, you say sit, you push it’s butt to the ground, and you use positive reinforcement in the form of treats. However, if you were to try and train a person in a similar fashion, you might be able to succeed, but the chances are the person will not become a ‘pet’ simply for a treat. A person will realize that they do not necessarily need the treat (unless they are starving to death, which is the only case in which this particular argument would not work) despite the fact that they might want it. On the other hand, a dog will sit for a treat anytime you ask. In fact after you have taught a dog that he will receive a treat for sitting, he will sit for you repeatedly without being rewarded with any treat at all. If the dog had a higher level of intelligence it would not take him long to realize that the treat was only being used to make him do what you wanted, which is why a person (or most people, depending on how smart they are) would be able to figure that out. I would be willing to bet that the same concept holds true for almost any animal, and you can probably predict how fast each animal will realize this depending upon their level of intelligence.
Yes and no. More complex animals seek more complex rewards, and recognize more subtle relationships between behaviors and consequences. Put another way, you’re right that a person probably wouldn’t become your pet simply to earn a cookie, but that doesn’t in itself mean that the principles of behaviorism aren’t applicable to people. The reinforcements that act on people are different than those that work on dogs. Look at how people conform to certain attitudes and styles to be popular with the ‘in’ crowd. Is acceptance a powerful motivator?