Opening Skinner's Box : Great Psychological Experiments of the 20th Century

Slater, Lauren

ISBN 10: 0393050955 / ISBN 13: 9780393050950

Published by Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W., 2004

Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 2308165-6

Synopsis:

Documents the drama of extraordinary inquiries into human psychology, bringing to life stories with unforgettable protagonists. Lauren Slater delivers a witty and stunningly perceptive view of the progress of the science of the human mind in the last century. Beginning with B. F. Skinner and the legend of a child raised in a box, she takes us from a deep empathy with Stanley Milgram's obedience subjects to a funny and disturbing re-creation of an experiment questioning the validity of psychiatric diagnosis. We observe cognitive dissonance among cult members whose apocalypse fails to arrive, and we see the groundwork being laid for a pill that promises to rescue the memories of aging baby boomers. Through nine examples of ingenious experiments by some of psychology's most innovative thinkers, Slater traces the evolution of the century's most pressing concernsfree will, authoritarianism, conformity, and morality. Previously described only in academic journals and textbooks, these often daring experiments have never before been narrated as stories, chock-full of plot, wit, personality, and theme.

Review: "Slater creates for the reader a sense of intimacy with scientists and their subjects."

Irresistible storytelling.

Neither clinical nor dispassionate....This combination of expert scientific and historical context, tough-minded reporting and daringly subjective re-creation.

A very readable, if highly personal, account of what we know, and don't know, about human nature, and of the ethical issues raised by our efforts to find out more. --Peter Singer

I've been riveted by her witty explorations of everything from lying to Prozac. --David Sedaris

Neither clinical nor dispassionate.... This combination of expert scientific and historical context, tough-minded reporting and daringly subjective re-creation.

Slater creates for the reader a sense of intimacy with scientists and their subjects.6 --Erik Strand

It is precisely [Slater's] intimate confessional approach that is able to reveal the poetry latent in the sterile laboratory.... A powerful and even inspiring meditation on the strengths and weaknesses hidden in our nature. --Eric Wargo

?A very readable, if highly personal, account of what we know, and don't know, about human nature, and of the ethical issues raised by our efforts to find out more. --Peter Singer

A very readable, if highly personal, account of what we know, and don't know, about human nature, and of the ethical issues raised by our efforts to find out more. --Peter Singer"

Bibliographic Details

Title: Opening Skinner's Box : Great Psychological ...
Publisher: Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W.
Publication Date: 2004
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Edition: 1st Edition.