Chapter 5 covered Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, a theory still held by many cognitive psychologists today. Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person's internal beliefs and predispositions are placed in opposition to their external observations and influences. An example of this would be a person, Bob, witnessing another man walking on water. If Bob is Christian or otherwise believes in miracles, this is a completely "normal" observation. However, if Bob is a man of science, seeing such an event causes a state of tension (dissonance) which drives him to formulate some kind of explanation for this event that fits his way of thinking. Perhaps the water is shallow, or maybe the man is using some new kind of technology. Cognitive dissonance explains why people NEED to rationalize their actions. The most interesting thing that I take away from this chapter is the Insufficient Rewards Paradigm, which reveals that changing a person's thinking is as easy as giving them a dollar to do something they don't really believe in, and then questioning their reasoning.
Chapter 6 was brutal. It discussed Harlow's experiments with monkeys which led to some interesting discoveries at an extreme cost. Harlow used monkeys to study the nature of nurture (lol) and did so by placing infant monkeys in traumatic conditions, subjecting them to torture, and constructing devices like the "Rape Rack" and the "Well of Despair". The results made significant contributions to child psychology and got Harlow elected president of the American Psychological Association, but at what cost? Harlow's actions spurred the animal rights movement into questioning the ethics of using animals to further science. I, personally, find Harlow's treatment of his monkeys appalling and I am convinced that he must have been disturbed in some way, however, I am grateful for the advances in medicine that have been made possible through animal trials. Although I could never conduct animal research myself, I do think that it is necessary but within strict bounds and under ethical scrutiny. What Harlow did was way outside the line.
No comments:
Post a Comment