Posted by
glen e. p. ropella-2 on
May 04, 2010; 9:15pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Behaviorism-tp5003979p5005715.html
Nicholas Thompson wrote circa 10-05-04 01:10 PM:
> Not clear why a behaviorist should stand up for this. Cruelty is cruelty
> from the point of view of any theory.
>
> Behaviorists didn't invent reward and punishment -- nor it's abuses. But
> reading down, if these kids come to them in as bad shape as they appear to
> ... constant gruesome self manipulation, etc. ... I can imagine how
> therapists might get drawn into some pretty dark places.
Right. That was what I wanted clarity on. I'm totally ignorant on what
constitutes behaviorism (despite the lectures in this forum). And it
seems to me that the defense the JRC puts forth is believable. I've
also had more than a few friends who've suffered under chemical
mistreatment (I stop just before calling it cruelty) by their doctors.
But I've only had 1 friend who has been treated with electro-shock
therapy. And he rejected both the chemicals and the shock treatments
as, again not cruel, but wrong-headed.
Where does a behaviorist draw the line between treatment and
mistreatment? It's easy to see where a non-behaviorist might draw that
line, which I think conflates efficacy with empathy. But how does a
behaviorist draw the line?
I have similar considerations about nursing home facilities and
Alzheimer's Disease. The sheer unpredictability (indicator for
complexity) of the AD sufferer's behavior makes me think that the
behaviorist _must_, at some point, consider higher level constructs like
cruelty or "mental processes" in order to practically treat a patient.
(Eric's first option.) If a doctor knows that behavioral treatment like
shocking an AD patient will never result in, e.g., the dissolution of
amyloid plaques (i.e. the treatment is really mistreatment), then he
won't treat the patient that way. But what if the physiology is unknown
but the treatment seems to work in some cases? Is it "cruel" if it
works? Or is it just NEVER a question of a higher level mental process
like "cruelty" at all?
--
glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095,
http://agent-based-modeling.com============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at
http://www.friam.org