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Years back, Melissa Holbrook Pierson brought home a border collie named Mercy, without a clue of how to get her to behave. Stunned after hiring a trainer whose immediate rapport with Mercy seemed magical, Pierson began delving into the techniques of positive reinforcement. She made her way to B. F. Skinner, the behavioral psychologist who started it all, the man who could train a pigeon to dance in minutes and whose research on how behavior is acquired has ramifications for military dolphin trainers, athletes, dancers, and, as he originally conceived, society at large.To learn more, Pierson met with a host of fascinating animal behaviorists, going behind the scenes to witness the relationships between trainers and animals at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, and to the in-depth seminars at a Clicker Expo where all the dogs but hers seemed to be learning new tricks. The often startling story of what became of a pathbreaking scientist's work is interwoven with a more personal tale of how to understand the foreign species with whom we are privileged to live.Pierson draws surprising connections in her exploration of how kindness works to motivate all animals, including the human one.… (mehr)
Since no-one else has reviewed this, I'll give my opinion, although I only read about 20%.
This is a matter of taste, but I thought that there was far too much autobiography. I didn't read this to learn about Pierson, I read it to learn about The Secret History of Kindness; there was nothing about it in the part I read having to do with that subject.
I am also not a big fan of B. F. Skinner, who was still a big deal when I was in high-school and college. Pierson argues passionately for Skinner. Know-it-all boys at that time were constantly citing him to argue that all actions are selfish, which I thought was nonsense. The morality comes in what we find pleasing -- if we find it rewarding to help others, we're better than people who would rather swindle them.
I always thought that there is much more to behavior that operant conditioning. I don't think that too many people would argue that it isn't helpful in some situation, but in her passionate arguments for Skinner, Pierson defends Skinner's belief that language (and just about anything else) is based on operant training. I find the contrary arguments more convincing. One researcher suggested that building a theory to cover cognition in all species based on the behavior of white rats and pigeons in Skinner boxes is a stretch.
Just before reading this, I read Frans de Waal's Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? and Mama's Last Hug. While Pierson claims that Skinner was persecuted, de Waal and his colleague felt that the domination of Skinner was stiffling their studies. I find his argument that much more is involved that Skinner ever imagined very convincing. The books I have read on language acquisition, such as Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, convince me that Skinner was wrong about that, too.
I will, however, definitely look into clicker training if I get another pet.
Die Informationen stammen von der englischen "Wissenswertes"-Seite.Ändern, um den Eintrag der eigenen Sprache anzupassen.
If there is anyone that holds that the study of the animal is an unworthy pursuit, he ought to go further and hold the same opinion about the study of himself.
-- Aristotle
He began to train Piggy-Beast to do all kinds of tricks that no one would have believed an ordinary Småland pig could possibly do. It was all very secret and Piggy-Beast enjoyed himself and learned very quickly, especially because every time he did something well he got a tidbit from Emil.
-- Astrid Lindgren, Emil and Piggy-Beast, 1973
Widmung
Die Informationen stammen von der englischen "Wissenswertes"-Seite.Ändern, um den Eintrag der eigenen Sprache anzupassen.
To Amy Cherry, dauntless editor and patient friend
Erste Worte
Die Informationen stammen von der englischen "Wissenswertes"-Seite.Ändern, um den Eintrag der eigenen Sprache anzupassen.
One rarely thinks of rats as heroes. (Introduction)
This part of the story, mine, begins in Brooklyn's Prospect Park, in the cultivate wilderness that seems impossible, a gift, in the middle of and dense and great city.
Zitate
Die Informationen stammen von der englischen "Wissenswertes"-Seite.Ändern, um den Eintrag der eigenen Sprache anzupassen.
To insist that others act in accordance with values that represent no inherent reward to them in a subtle but very real way denies them full self determination. I decide what is good for you; I think you ought to do what I think best. Otherwise known as coercion. (Prologue, p.13)
Letzte Worte
Hinweis zur Identitätsklärung
Verlagslektoren
Die Informationen stammen von der englischen "Wissenswertes"-Seite.Ändern, um den Eintrag der eigenen Sprache anzupassen.
Years back, Melissa Holbrook Pierson brought home a border collie named Mercy, without a clue of how to get her to behave. Stunned after hiring a trainer whose immediate rapport with Mercy seemed magical, Pierson began delving into the techniques of positive reinforcement. She made her way to B. F. Skinner, the behavioral psychologist who started it all, the man who could train a pigeon to dance in minutes and whose research on how behavior is acquired has ramifications for military dolphin trainers, athletes, dancers, and, as he originally conceived, society at large.To learn more, Pierson met with a host of fascinating animal behaviorists, going behind the scenes to witness the relationships between trainers and animals at the National Zoo in Washington, DC, and to the in-depth seminars at a Clicker Expo where all the dogs but hers seemed to be learning new tricks. The often startling story of what became of a pathbreaking scientist's work is interwoven with a more personal tale of how to understand the foreign species with whom we are privileged to live.Pierson draws surprising connections in her exploration of how kindness works to motivate all animals, including the human one.
Google Books — Lädt ...
This is a matter of taste, but I thought that there was far too much autobiography. I didn't read this to learn about Pierson, I read it to learn about The Secret History of Kindness; there was nothing about it in the part I read having to do with that subject.
I am also not a big fan of B. F. Skinner, who was still a big deal when I was in high-school and college. Pierson argues passionately for Skinner. Know-it-all boys at that time were constantly citing him to argue that all actions are selfish, which I thought was nonsense. The morality comes in what we find pleasing -- if we find it rewarding to help others, we're better than people who would rather swindle them.
I always thought that there is much more to behavior that operant conditioning. I don't think that too many people would argue that it isn't helpful in some situation, but in her passionate arguments for Skinner, Pierson defends Skinner's belief that language (and just about anything else) is based on operant training. I find the contrary arguments more convincing. One researcher suggested that building a theory to cover cognition in all species based on the behavior of white rats and pigeons in Skinner boxes is a stretch.
Just before reading this, I read Frans de Waal's Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? and Mama's Last Hug. While Pierson claims that Skinner was persecuted, de Waal and his colleague felt that the domination of Skinner was stiffling their studies. I find his argument that much more is involved that Skinner ever imagined very convincing. The books I have read on language acquisition, such as Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct, convince me that Skinner was wrong about that, too.
I will, however, definitely look into clicker training if I get another pet.