beyond freedom and dignity essays

beyond freedom and dignity essays In B. F. Skinners book, Beyond Freedom s point of view. That is, a point of view where man is viewed primarily as an animal, the "being" aspect of a "human being" is dropped from the picture. There is no consideration for a view of man who has mind that observes, chooses, decides and initiates action upon the environment. Basically, Skinner insinuated the idea that man has no personality, free will, responsibility, and that contemporary concepts of freedom and dignity can not be realistically applied to life experiences. I consider the question that if it is the natural stimuli that control the actions of humans, who controls the natural stimulus? Subsequently, if the natural stimuli are randomly occurring, that means that all things experienced by humans are at best, by chance or luck. I will first discuss parts of Skinners theories before I state my opinion on the validity of his work. Skinners entire system of experimentation was based on operant conditioning. While trying to comprehend Skinners explanation of operant conditioning, I visualized a person getting knocked around in a pin-ball machine. This person bouncing around in a pin-ball machine represents the idea of reaction, that is, to everything it would come into contact with. From Skinners point of view, those things a person would come in contact with are the stimulus, or the reinforcers. Specifically, the stimulus has the ability to increase the operant, or the behavior taking place right before the stimulus. Additionally, Skinner believed that the behaviors following the stimulus are consequences. Whether good or bad, those consequences have the ability to affect the tendency for a person to repeat the action. Skinner also discussed a different kind of stimulus, aversive stimulus, or something that is found uncomfortable and ...

Gender Stereotypes on Television essays

Gender Stereotypes on Television essays Gender Stereotypes on Television Television is one industry that is most guilty of perpetrating gender stereotypes. During prime time hours, men make up the vast majority of characters shown. Women characters found on television at the same time are mainly in comedies, while men are predominantly in dramas. This implicates that men should be taken seriously and women should not. Another sharp gender-stereotypical contrast on television can be seen in advertisements or commercials. Gender stereotypes are also prevalent in childrens Television does not exactly represent the real world. Since most major directors on television are males; they depict a world, which agrees with their concepts of society on their show. Women usually see womens roles on television as being submissive to men or not as intelligent as men. Many stereotypes of women are played out in the popular television show Friends. Monica is kind of neurotic, like some women have the reputation of being, or like Phoebe, who is really ditsy. But on the other hand, some shows, such as NYPD Blue, gives women new opportunities and puts them in acting positions or occupations such as police officers and detectives. This isnt a typical job for a woman, but by portraying women cops the show might actually bring in a more diverse audience. Women also have very stereotypical occupations that they often play in these shows, such as nurses, sales assistants, maids, or models. Women today on television, sometimes, are not portrayed as independent as they actually are in the real world. Women sometimes plays roles of being very dependent of men, which is not the case now as it was 50 years ago. For example, on many television programs women silently appear in backgrounds to cater to the needs of dominant males. ...