Operant Conditioning? Really?

Hmmm... I never really thought about this, to be honest, but it makes an interesting point. The idea that our modern educational system is a lot like operant conditioning makes perfect sense-- flashcards, for instance, much like those used in the pigeon experiment or in dolphin training, are a (as I see it, anyway) rather comical reminder of those used to help grade school children remember math problems and spelling words. The ethical implications-- that children in America have the same mental capacity as a pigeon-- aren't too bright... if you believe it, that is.

While I DO agree that children are exposed to a certain level of operant conditioning in their early stages of educational development, I also think that there ARE some things worth memorizing in order to function in society. Where would we be, for example, if people couldn't retain the ability to make basic sentences in conversation? Things would get pretty dull pretty fast, I'd think. But I also don't think that the future of education is so entirely bleak as to abandon all hope for an educated society all-together. For while I do believe that we (myself included) are all the product of some level of operant conditioning, I also believe that education does eventually take a turn for the better at some point in everyone's life-- when a person becomes capable of abstract thinking (Erikson's Formal Operational Stage, as I recall, generally beginning around the time of puberty).

While it may be taken for granted, the ability to reason, draw conclusions, and think abstractedly (theorize, for example) is where operational conditioning takes a nose-dive and loses its grip on learning. If taken in a different light, this stage-- usually stereotyped characteristically as a time of defiance and temperamental behavior-- is really a time of mental growth and change that is unparalleled. Maybe that's why it's so difficult for older generations to learn new languages or tasks-- if it is a concept that requires the memorization capacity normally developed through operant conditioning, how can a fully-developed, self-thinking individual human being be expected to degrade his or her brain back to the level of a pigeon's? If this stage is developed to its fullest extent, especially by learning how to ask well-thought questions about concepts or to develop new ideas, I think that many of us would be in a better place; educationally and ethically.

-Aurora

P.S. Just thought I'd mention that Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" ("We don't need no education...") is now stuck in my head. Thanks a lot, McGuire.