Psychology/clockwork Orange Essay

1. Skinners theory is based on the idea that learning is a function of change in overt behaviour.

He is injected with the experimental drug and he is forced to watch movies that depict violent acts. The treatments occur over a two week period with the movies becoming increasingly violent. The Doctors who were overseeing the experiment played classical music in the background. This had an unexpected result on Alex who loves classical music, he became conditioned to become ill with headaches and nausea when he sees any violence or hears classical music. Alex’s treatment is considered to be a success and he is released back into society after only two years in prison. Back into the society he once dominated with violence and cruelty, Alex immediately begins running into people whom he committed crimes against and they begin to take their revenge on the defenseless Alex. His treatment not only cured him against committing violent acts, it also eliminated his ability to defend himself against violence being perpetrated against him. This becomes evident when Alex is being assaulted by a transient he previously assaulted and Dim and Pete, now police officers rescue Alex from the beating. Realizing that Alex cannot defend himself and still upset with him Dim and Pete take Alex to a secluded spot in the woods and beat and attempt to drown Alex. Feeling that they have exacted their retribution, Dim and Pete leave Alex in

1. Operant conditioning is a type of behavioral learning developed by made famous by psychoanalysis B.F. Skinner in the late 1930’s. Operant conditioning is the act of learned behavior through consequences. Types of operant conditioning are positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment.

According to Kail and Cavanaugh the theory established by Skinner known as operant conditioning is a “learning paradigm in which the consequences of a behavior determine whether a behavior is repeated in the future” (p. 13). This theory to an extent, parallels the previous theory of operant conditioning but is also important in trying to understand why one makes the decisions they do as well as how often they partake in certain behaviors. Through his theory Skinner displayed that there are two types of consequences, reinforcement and punishment, in which one increases the chances of repeated behavior and the other vice versa. Reinforcement is the component that increases the likeliness of repeated behavior and includes two divisions, negative and positive. Negative reinforcement is that in which a person’s

Behaviorist B.F. Skinner, which is why you may occasionally hear it referred to as Skinnerian conditioning coined operant conditioning. As a behaviorist, Skinner believed that internal thoughts and motivations could not be used to explain behavior. Instead, he suggested, we should look only at the external, observable causes of human behavior.

Skinner, a behaviorist, viewed man as an organism that is complex and works in an orderly way, but could only be studied through observation. He did not believe in the concept of free will. Skinner believed that men were always controlled by outside forces even if they were unaware of them. He believed that all behavior was in response to external stimuli from the environment. His idea was that manipulation of this stimuli could encourage a person to work towards a preset goal. This helped Skinner to develop the idea of operant conditioning. For Skinner, the ideal society is one where experts are in charge of everyone else. These experts dictate what is right and set the standards for how people should live and learn.

A fundamental tenet of Skinner's radical behaviorism is that the probability of a behavior is related directly to the nature of the environmental consequences that follow performance of that behavior. From this basic tenet he derived a set of procedures for modifying behavior by a method called operant conditioning. Specifically, behavior is strengthened, or increased in frequency, when followed by either a positive consequence (positive reinforcement) or removal of a negative consequence (negative reinforcement). Behavior is weakened, or decreased

Finally, at the end of the novel in Part Three, Alex is “cured” and has reverted back to his previous state of having a choice between being good or evil, thus acquiring that sense of free will once more.

Skinner created the theory of Operant Conditioning as he believed that all behaviour can be controlled by rewards or reinforcement. This is very different from Pavlovs theory of Classical Conditioning as Skinner is trying to control voluntary behaviour. This is done by giving the subject a positive or negative reaction to an action with the theory that a negative response will discourage the subject to repeat the action. A good example of this is house training a dog, as the dogs natural reaction is to relieve itself, however it must be taught to wait until it is outside. The more the dog waits until he is outside, the more praise he receives therefore it is less likely to wish to instigate a negative reaction by relieving himself inside the house.

Operant conditioning is a theory that was pioneered by Skinner, and it is a theory that is based on the type of consequence that is given following a particular behaviour. Skinner divided the consequences of actions into three groups, positive rein forcers, negative reinforcers and punishers. Skinner looked at what would happen to behaviour if giving positive reinforcers at different intervals. Most professionals and practitioners will use this theory in one way or another such as giving rewards for good behaviour or sanctions for bad behaviour so the theory is well used in today’s frameworks and practices.

Because the fears of repressive governments exists throughout every society, some more than others, the themes in the novel become “not-so-distant.” Reformation of violence is suppression of of free-will in that it aims to limit the choices we make to fall within what is accepted. In this extreme form of social control, Alex is “reformed” to act as a civilized human. Violence, as a form of rebellion, represents the ongoing struggle that youth, as a whole, deals with in order to fight against the “super-powers,” that aim to control them.  Bibliography Aggeler, Geoffrey.

A war film like Full Metal Jacket, does not aim to glorify war, but to show the distortion of morality in it, the romanticizing of violence to the point of blurring the lines between profane and holy. With the analysis of the film’s plot, the ideas it chooses to enforce, the visual, and narrative techniques he used, one gets the impression that Kubrick, focuses on the image of a man – being and becoming a killer machine. This again is a repeated trope that is a main narrative point in A Clockwork Orange. In both stories a man is being re-constructed by the establishment with the purpose of good for the society. While a notable parallel between both films, in Full Metal Jacket this trope is reversed.

The film provides a good example for how classical conditioning is used in the world. Skinner’s theories of behaviorism are introduced in many of the scenes throughout the movie. According to Skinner, acquisition and retention of new behaviors would elicit rewards. Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning involves a stimulus and a response that are connected (Myers, 2013). Using the injection, classical conditioning was used to make Alex feel ill every time he watched the films.

BF Skinner places heavy emphasis on the use of multiple reinforcements to control the responses of individuals in certain situations. He notes that the responses of individuals to particular stimuli are contingent upon positive or negative reinforcements. This concept is known as operant conditioning. This ideology poses several limitations. Radical behaviorism does not take into account internal processes. To be more concise, Skinner does not view a person’s mental processes (i.e. thoughts and feelings as contributing factors of behavior). By not evaluating a person’s mental state, thoughts, or feelings, this theory assumes the idea that everyone will have the same response to the same situation as long as the same form of reinforcement is

After one evening of enormity, the gang goes back to the bar and have an argument about alex being formidable. The next day, due to the dispute they had the night before, the comrades go against Alex and gets sent to prison. He was sentenced 14 years for the delinquency he committed. After two years of being in prison, he volunteers for a new government, experimental program called, the Ludovico Method that would release him in two weeks. The experiment was to mentally brainwash the mind and make him ill when seeing or thinking about violence. The treatment became successful but, Alex was incapable of being on his own. Then, a major diplomatic group used him as an example of the brutality from the government. In the end, Alex tries to suicide himself but ended up being a fail and was treated back to himself with the help of the government, making them seem substantial. Inconclusive, Alex changes his manner and chooses a different path for his life. “That’s what it’s going to be then, brothers, as I come to the end of this