Behaviorism follow up

I felt this was worth posting separately, rather than simply adding to the course links.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Also, in class we mentioned Milgram’s experiments on Obedience. I can’t find as robust a website as exists for the prison experiment, but here is one of Milgram’s essays explaining about the experiment.

I also found another website about Milgram that has this fantastic quote by Zimbardo about Milgram’s experiments:

Obedience is not to be understood solely by reference to the individual’s conforming deed; that is merely the end product of a long process of prior programming by which the rationality of power, dominance, and authority become impressed upon us….

The major lesson taught in school systems is the necessity to obey trivial, irrelevant rules and to observe protocol, while at all times respecting authority because it exists…. We must critically reexamine the ethics and tactics of our revered social institutions, which lay the foundation for our mindless obedience to rules, to expectations, and to people playing at being authorities….

The question to ask of Milgram’s research is not why did the majority of normal, average subjects behave in evil (felonious) ways, but what did the disobeying minority do after they refused to continue to shock the poor soul, who was obviously in pain? Did they intervene, go to his aid, denounce the researcher, protest to higher authorities, etc.? No, even their disobedience was within the framework of ‘acceptability’; they stayed in their seats, ‘in their assigned place,’ politely, psychologically demurred, and they waited to be dismissed by the authority. Using other measures of obedience in addition to ‘going all the way’ on the shock generator, obedience to authority in Milgram’s research was total!…. It ought to give each of us pause as no other single bit of research has.

Again, it is always helpful to have a reminder that though behaviorism as a methodology for instruction is flawed, at best- 1) it is employed frequently to control behavior in educational environments and 2) human beings often behave in certain ways when they are integrated into certain systems. This has ALL KINDS of implications for education!Now your bonus question for today.

There is a computer in a classroom.

Scenario 1: Students are permitted to use the computer only as a reward when they have finished all their normal coursework.

Scenario 2: Students who are not able to pass their math tests are often assigned to do math drill exercises on the computer for 45 minutes at a time (They hate the math exercises!)

What behaviorist principles are at work? What kind of message do you think is being sent about educational computing use?