Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines examples of operant conditioning in "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess. The paper discusses those examples in terms of Burgess?s interpretations, as well as in relation to behavioral psychology as a whole. The paper presents Burgess's view of operant conditioning and behavioral psychology as a dangerous, deadly pursuit of sameness and control over mankind.

From the Paper:

"First, it is important to discuss what is meant by conditioning. In the mid-twentieth century, psychologist B.F. Skinner, in the footsteps of such scientists as Pavlov and Watson, sought to examine ways to achieve the ideal society. According to Skinner, the way to achieve this was through the restriction of personal freedoms through behavior modification. This modification included the use of systematic rewards or punishments, and the use of those rewards and punishments with behavior association. As Skinner described, humans could be modified to act in specific ways by encouraging those behaviors through rewards. Conversely, humans could be just as easily manipulated away from given behaviors through the use of punishments. If the stimuli were presented consistently in association with any given behavior, Skinner theorized, those behaviors would become intertwined with the stimuli (Zimmer, 1999)."

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