Book: Opening Skinner’s Box by Lauren Slater
Subtitle: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century
Rating: 8/10 … an excellent survey for the neophyte.
Here’s a little experiment to try out on yourself. Go to a part of the bookshop you never visit and choose a book on a subject you’d never usually consider. Last week I tried it out by accident and I stumbled on this little gem. Actually, I wandered into the psychology rows, looking for a book, Musicophilia by Dr. Oliver Sachs. I’d heard his podcast and the book sounded interesting. Having located it, it struck me as rather dry. I changed my mind, chastised myself for wandering in where I didn’t belong and then I stumbled on Lauren Slater. Her book, that is.
This is a little book describing ten advances in research psychology, but from a very human angle. She talks about the experimenters and their subjects (animal and human) and herself. The experiments were often controversial, using methods on the ethical frontier, and the conclusions disputed. Slater herself is often present in the narrative, evaluating her own reactions, drawing examples bravely and even recklessly from her own life, and experimenting with herself as guinea pig. She meets many of the protagonists and is blunt (and sometimes indiscreet) in her judgement and reporting on them. She is balanced and open-minded about the experiments, setting out the pros and cons and letting the reader decide.
I found the whole a delightful and easy read for an utter novice in the field and I’ll be roaming unfamiliar aisles in my bookshop in search of more surprises.
