SKINNER!

[Nevaraniel]

The Orientation video mentioned a man named Skinner. Skinner was a psychologist who developed the approach to psychology known as behaviorism--the effect of environment on the behavior of people.

[sawyerhasbestlines]

Why wait?

Conditioning.

Brain washing.

[Christina78]

Skinner is well known for his creation of the "Skinner Box," a small metal box with glass on one side and a lever on one wall. You place a rat in the box and use various methods of reward (food) and punishment (electroshock, loud noise) to teach the rat to push the lever. Interesting...

[yung23]

so was it Maslow who did the ID/ EGO thing ?

[Nevaraniel]

Freud did the id/ego/superego, as well as psychoanalysis.

---

More elaboration...anyone think about the islands apparent effect on people. It's forced Jack to become a leader, Charlie to give up heroin (though who knows how much longer that'll last :D ), etc.

[sawyerhasbestlines]

You place a rat in the box and use various methods of reward (food) and punishment (electroshock, loud noise) to teach the rat to push the lever. Interesting...

Jack walked that fine line of free will. Be controlled like a rat in a box or not. I was really hoping they would not push the execute button. I think Jack has gone off the deep end, but I think he's right on this one.

Hurley will obviously get controlled and tested by the food locker, the way Charlie will be tested with the pile of heroin.

[Hitchock242]

Actually was just going to post something about this. I was a Philosophy and PSYCHOLOGY major in college and this is textbook 101 stuff. BF SKINNER is actually the leading researcher in what is called OPERANT CONDITIONING. Previous posters who have mentioned behaviorism and the "skinner box" are also correct, but I think his named being mentioned as one of the scientists "whose steps in which our work is following in" is in relation to OPERANT CONDITIONING. See below for a description.
During this “operating,” the organism encounters a special kind of stimulus, called a reinforcing stimulus, or simply a reinforcer. This special stimulus has the effect of increasing the operant -- that is, the behavior occurring just before the reinforcer. This is operant conditioning: “the behavior is followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency to repeat the behavior in the future.”

Imagine a rat in a cage. This is a special cage (called, in fact, a “Skinner box”) that has a bar or pedal on one wall that, when pressed, causes a little mechanism to release a foot pellet into the cage. The rat is bouncing around the cage, doing whatever it is rats do, when he accidentally presses the bar and -- hey, presto! -- a food pellet falls into the cage! The operant is the behavior just prior to the reinforcer, which is the food pellet, of course. In no time at all, the rat is furiously peddling away at the bar, hoarding his pile of pellets in the corner of the cage.

So Jack is most likely right that not pressing the button will result in nothing...except the failing of an abandoned psychological experiment. The OPERANT behavior in the case of the LOST crew is the typing of the code to avoid "something terrible" or "the end of the world". This 'avoidance of a dire consequence", and the subsequent reseting of the timer, is the REINFORCER, which further etches the action as a necessity into the behavior and psche of person(s) carrying it out. Why else would someone be doing this over and over again for years maybe decades? Desmond is a rat in a Skinner box.

[dm12]

www.dharmafellowship.org/...-part3.htm (http://www.dharmafellowship.org/library/essays/meditation-manual-part3.htm)

talks about the skinner experiment
:eek

[OFries]

Here are my reasons why I think the hatch is a conditioning experiment:
1) If the researchers at the Hanso Foundation were THAT concerned about the timer counting down, ie if something bad would happen, then they wouldn't let two people be in control of it. They would put a dozen people in that hatch, and there would be no reason not to tell them exactly what bad thing would happen if the timer ran out.

2) Any legitimate research organization would have their staff fully informed about the hazards associated with their work, along with protocols about how to respond if something goes wrong, ie the timer runs down. The lack of information says to me that the people meant to watch that video were subjects.

3) They don't need people to man the station in order to collect data. If the computers are collecting data then they could be left to run on their own, or controlled remotely with a technician visiting the station under extreme protective conditions to do maintenance, collect computer tapes etc...

[Quentin Charles]

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned WALDEN TWO yet.

[Bandala]

When Jack asked Desmond where the food came from, I thought of the Skinner Box.

[wulf]

When I read these boards, and see how people are just drooling for new clues, trying to figure out what polar bears have in common with the number 108, I think of the skinner box.

[theonepearl]

And for the record, Maslow's contribution was the hierarchy of needs, beginning with the basics (food, water, shelter) ending at self-actualization.

[kappo]

I just randomly look at the forums and don't really keep track of all the threads, so yell at me if this has already been discussed.

In the Dharma initiative Intro movie, the guy mentions a certain "B.F. Skinner." I searched for him on Google and the first link i got was this one:

http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/skinner.html

He happened to have many theories on psychology and psychological response. I didn't get around to reading the entire thing, but if someone did, I'm sure that it is a gold mine of information regarding things in Lost. Also, a more condensed version of his theories can be found on this site:

http://tip.psychology.org/skinner.html

Let me know what you think.

[JinAndTonic]

Very interesting reading. it'd actually be interesting to know if things that are happening on the island, are in fact things that have (or are) happening in Science in the real world.

the things he discovered in the articles you provided, could be the "conditioning" of the island to the people....hmm....

[guylikeu]

Yep, been discussed to death

Just hit search up there and type Skinner

Welcome to the Lost-tv love train BTW ;)

[LostInWilderness]

Welcome to the board kappo. Please read the welcome forum, look around and have fun.

I just randomly look at the forums and don't really keep track of all the threads, so yell at me if this has already been discussed.
For future reference, we have a saying around here: If you don't have time to read, you don't have time to post.

Take the time to do a couple searches, like just typing skinner in the search box for the forum, and post in appropriate threads. I'll merge this.

[YouFirst]

Skinner is well known for his creation of the "Skinner Box," a small metal box with glass on one side and a lever on one wall. You place a rat in the box and use various methods of reward (food) and punishment (electroshock, loud noise) to teach the rat to push the lever. Interesting...

Lenny - "You shouldn't have done that! You've opened the box!"

Just saw that post and thought of what Lenny said... Probably means nothing but it was worth posting all the same. :)

[Inaudible-Whisper]

http://www.bfskinner.org/Operant.asp

Don't know if this has been posted before. Ive searched and didn't find it, so I apologise in advance if it has.