Narrative Summary of The Misbehavior of Organisms

Overview:

As psychologists, we often encounter the limitations of studying animal behavior solely through the lens of operant conditioning. This article details how our attempts to extend operant conditioning principles to diverse animal species resulted in surprising breakdowns of conditioned behavior. We observed a persistent pattern of animals reverting to instinctive behaviors, even when these behaviors were not reinforced and often hindered their ability to receive rewards.

Main Parts:

Introduction: Introduces the authors’ work in applying operant conditioning to various animal species beyond the laboratory setting and their initial successes.
Examples of Instinctive Drift: Presents five detailed case studies showcasing how animals, despite being conditioned for specific behaviors, exhibited instinctive behaviors that interfered with their learned responses.
- Dancing Chicken: Instead of simply standing on a platform, the chicken developed a strong and persistent scratching pattern.
- Money-Saving Raccoon: The raccoon, trained to deposit coins, exhibited strong “washing” behavior by rubbing coins together and dipping them into the container.
- Capsule-Hammering Chicken: Some chickens, initially trained to peck capsules off a slide, started grabbing and shaking them instead, demonstrating an instinctive food-seeking behavior.
- Baseball-Playing Chicken: Upon removal of the cage, the chicken exhibited a strong instinct to chase and peck at the ball, even though it had never been exposed to it before.
- Coin-Dropping Pig: Pigs, despite being conditioned to carry coins to a piggy bank, developed a slow and laborious rooting behavior, repeatedly dropping and retrieving the coins.
Instinctive Drift: Introduces the term “instinctive drift” to describe this phenomenon, highlighting the prepotency of innate behaviors over learned ones.
Critique of Behaviorism: Criticizes the core assumptions of behaviorism, particularly its neglect of instinct, species differences, and the idea of a tabula rasa.
Need for a Revised Theory: Argues for a revised behavioral theory that incorporates evolutionary history, instinctual patterns, and ecological niches.
Conclusion: Emphasizes the importance of ethological insights in understanding and controlling animal behavior, advocating for a shift towards a more comprehensive and nuanced approach to the study of behavior.

View on Life:

Behaviorism’s Limitations: Behaviorism, while valuable, has limitations in fully understanding animal behavior. The authors argue that ignoring instinct leads to an incomplete and ineffective understanding of how animals learn and behave.
Importance of Instinct: Instinctual behavior plays a crucial role in animal behavior, influencing how they respond to learning situations and interacting with their environment.
Evolutionary Context: To truly understand animal behavior, we must consider their evolutionary history, ecological niches, and innate behaviors. This perspective is crucial for predicting and controlling their actions effectively.

Scenarios:

Animal Training: The authors use various scenarios where animals are trained for different purposes (exhibits, commercials, etc.), illustrating how instinctive behaviors disrupt the learned responses.
Laboratory vs. Real World: The article highlights the differences between controlled laboratory settings and real-world situations, where instinctual behaviors are more likely to manifest.
Animal Welfare: The authors’ observations highlight the potential for unintentional harm when ignoring instinctive needs of animals during training.

Challenges:

Predicting and Controlling Behavior: The authors faced difficulties in predicting and controlling animal behavior due to the emergence of instinctive behaviors that interfered with learned responses.
Overcoming Instinctive Drift: The authors do not explicitly address how to overcome instinctive drift, but acknowledge the need for incorporating ethological knowledge into behavioral theory.

Conflict:

Behaviorism vs. Instinct: The article showcases the conflict between the behaviorist approach, which emphasizes learning and environmental influences, and the importance of innate behaviors in shaping animal actions.
Theory vs. Practice: The authors grapple with the conflict between the theoretical predictions of behaviorism and the real-world observations of instinctive drift.

Plot:

Introduction of Behaviorism: The authors describe their initial success in applying behaviorism to control animal behavior.
Encountering Instinctive Drift: They then present a series of case studies demonstrating the unexpected emergence of instinctive behaviors that undermine learned responses.
Shift in Perspective: The authors begin to question the core assumptions of behaviorism and advocate for incorporating ethological insights.
Call for a Revised Theory: The article concludes with a call for a more comprehensive and nuanced theory of behavior that acknowledges the importance of instinct and evolutionary history.

Point of view:

Authors’ Perspective: The article is written from the perspective of the authors, who are researchers with extensive experience in applying behaviorism to animal training. Their personal experiences form the basis for their critique of behaviorism and advocacy for a more inclusive theoretical framework.
Ethological Perspective: The article draws heavily on ethological principles and observations, emphasizing the importance of understanding animal behavior within its natural context.

How it’s written:

Tone: The tone of the article is analytical, objective, and at times, even apologetic. The authors acknowledge their initial naivety and admit to the limitations of their earlier approach.
Style: The article is written in a clear and concise manner, with a focus on providing detailed examples of instinctive drift. The authors employ a conversational style, engaging the reader in their journey of discovery and questioning.
Example: “These egregious failures came as a rather considerable shock to us, for there was nothing in our background in behaviorism to prepare us for such gross inabilities to predict and control the behavior of animals with which we had been working for years.” (Paragraph 10) This excerpt exemplifies the analytical and apologetic tone of the article, as the authors acknowledge their surprise and the need to re-evaluate their assumptions.

Tone: The tone is analytical, critical, and ultimately, a call for reevaluation. While there is a sense of disappointment in encountering the shortcomings of behaviorism, the tone is not accusatory but rather introspective and reflective.

Life choices:

Choice of Research Approach: The authors’ initial choice to focus on behaviorism led to a period of success, but ultimately revealed its limitations.
Embrace of Ethological Insights: Their decision to integrate ethological knowledge into their research marks a shift in perspective and approach, indicating a willingness to embrace new knowledge and challenge pre-existing assumptions.

Lessons:

Humility of Knowledge: The article underscores the need for humility in scientific inquiry and the importance of questioning assumptions, even when they are widely accepted.
Importance of Interdisciplinary Approach: The authors highlight the importance of integrating knowledge from different fields, such as ethology and behaviorism, for a more complete understanding of complex phenomena.
Understanding Nature’s Design: The article emphasizes the significance of appreciating the intricate design of living organisms and their inherent behaviors.

Characters:

Keller Breland & Marian Breland: The authors of the article, experienced researchers in animal behavior and operant conditioning. They are passionate about their work and dedicated to expanding the field of animal psychology.
The Animals: The article features various animals (chicken, raccoon, pig) as subjects of their research. Each animal represents the challenges and complexities of understanding animal behavior, showcasing the impact of instinct on their learning.

Themes:

Limitations of Behaviorism: The article challenges the limitations of behaviorism as a sole explanation for animal behavior, particularly its disregard for instinct and species differences.
Prepotency of Instinct: It highlights the powerful influence of instinct on animal behavior, demonstrating how innate behaviors can override learned responses.
Importance of Nature: The article emphasizes the need to consider the natural world and evolutionary history to understand the behavior of living organisms.

Principles:

Evolutionary Context: Animal behavior is shaped by evolutionary history, ecological niches, and inherent instincts.
Species Differences: Animal species possess unique instinctive behaviors that are crucial to understanding their actions and responses to learning.
Instinctual Behavior: Instinctive behaviors are not simply “hard-wired” but are influenced by environmental cues and experiences.

Intentions of the characters in the text or the reader of the text:

Authors’ Intentions: The authors aim to challenge the assumptions of behaviorism and emphasize the importance of incorporating ethological insights into a revised theory of animal behavior.
Reader’s Intentions: The reader may be interested in learning about the limitations of behaviorism, understanding the significance of instinct in animal behavior, and appreciating the complexity of living organisms.

Unique Vocabulary:

Instinctive Drift: The term coined by the authors to describe the phenomenon of learned behavior reverting to instinctive behavior.
Species Specific: The authors use this term to refer to behaviors that are specific to a certain species.
Superstition: The authors use Skinner’s term to describe behaviors that are not directly reinforced but emerge through accidental associations.

Anecdotes:

The Dancing Chicken: The story of the chicken developing a persistent scratching pattern highlights how instinctive behaviors can emerge even when not directly reinforced.
The Money-Saving Raccoon: The anecdote of the raccoon rubbing and dipping coins demonstrates the strong influence of instinctive washing behavior.
The Coin-Dropping Pig: The pig’s struggle with carrying coins effectively illustrates the impact of rooting behavior on learned responses.

Ideas:

The Limits of Behaviorism: The article challenges the idea that behaviorism provides a complete explanation for animal behavior.
The Importance of Ethology: It advocates for a more interdisciplinary approach to studying animal behavior, incorporating insights from ethology and other fields.
A More Comprehensive Theory of Behavior: The authors propose the need for a revised theory that acknowledges the influence of evolution, instinct, and ecological niches on animal behavior.

Facts and findings:

Successful Application of Operant Conditioning: The authors initially achieved significant success in applying operant conditioning principles to control animal behavior.
Instinctive Drift: Their observations consistently demonstrated a tendency for animals to revert to instinctive behaviors, even when these behaviors were not reinforced.
Species-Specific Behaviors: They highlight the existence of specific behaviors that are unique to certain animal species and cannot be explained solely through conditioning.

Statistics:

Percentage of Chickens: The authors mention that over 50% of chickens in one experiment developed a scratching pattern, while 25% exhibited other behaviors.
Number of Animals: They state that they have conditioned over 6,000 individual animals from 38 species.

Points of View:

Behaviorism: The article is written from the perspective of researchers who initially embraced behaviorism but later recognized its limitations.
Ethology: The authors heavily draw on ethological principles and perspectives, emphasizing the importance of instinct and evolutionary history.

Perspective:

Animal Behavior: The article offers a critical perspective on the complexity of animal behavior, showcasing the limitations of behaviorism and highlighting the importance of considering instinct and evolutionary history.
Scientific Research: It provides a perspective on the challenges and rewards of scientific inquiry, emphasizing the need for ongoing critical evaluation and adaptation.

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