Scarlet Letter Operant Conditioning
AP English Language and Composition (3)
22 January, 2014
Scarlet Letter Essay
The Psychological Aspect of The Scarlet Letter
“Learning is not doing; it is changing what we do” (Skinner, Are Theories of Learning Necessary?). B.F. Skinner believed that behaviorism is a result of development from conditioning. Whatever a person sees continuously occurring in his or her daily lives as children, the person recalls them and alter his or her behavior accordingly. It is evident in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, when various characters behave and respond to certain stimuli because of a specific type of conditioning Skinner coins as operant conditioning, which is a method of institution through punishments and rewards. Hester Prynne …show more content…
Roger Chillingworth directs his anger towards, not his wife, but Hester’s lover, Dimmesdale. While Hester accepts the consequences of her actions and dutifully lives in social isolation with her daughter, Pearl, the affair is much more psychologically devastating for Chillingworth. His obsession over taking revenge on the reverend gradually destroys Chillingworth. As a result, this ugly change in personality becomes incarnated in Chillingworth. In the beginning, he is fairly unattractive at the beginning of the novel, with lopsided shoulders and an aged appearance, the pursuit of revenge transforms Chillingworth into a devilish figure. When Dimmesdale dies, the passion in Chillingworth is extinguished, too, leaving him shriveled up. Without either love or revenge to live for, Chillingworth dies shortly after Dimmesdale. Because of Hester’s actions does Chillingworth pursues vengeance towards Dimmesdale by keeping him alive and slowly torturing him through the use poison. From the very beginning when Chillingworth first appears and sees Hester, he is already angered. Skinner 's work drew attention to the responses of the human being that produce the reinforcing or rewarding goal object. Skinner describes behavioral change as a function of response consequences. It is the outcome produced by the action that causes the behavioral change. Due to Hester Prynne’s unlawful act of adultery, Chillingworth gradually changes his behavior from an intellectually respected man, to the epitome of evil in the novel. It is as Skinner
22 January, 2014
Scarlet Letter Essay
The Psychological Aspect of The Scarlet Letter
“Learning is not doing; it is changing what we do” (Skinner, Are Theories of Learning Necessary?). B.F. Skinner believed that behaviorism is a result of development from conditioning. Whatever a person sees continuously occurring in his or her daily lives as children, the person recalls them and alter his or her behavior accordingly. It is evident in The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, when various characters behave and respond to certain stimuli because of a specific type of conditioning Skinner coins as operant conditioning, which is a method of institution through punishments and rewards. Hester Prynne …show more content…
Roger Chillingworth directs his anger towards, not his wife, but Hester’s lover, Dimmesdale. While Hester accepts the consequences of her actions and dutifully lives in social isolation with her daughter, Pearl, the affair is much more psychologically devastating for Chillingworth. His obsession over taking revenge on the reverend gradually destroys Chillingworth. As a result, this ugly change in personality becomes incarnated in Chillingworth. In the beginning, he is fairly unattractive at the beginning of the novel, with lopsided shoulders and an aged appearance, the pursuit of revenge transforms Chillingworth into a devilish figure. When Dimmesdale dies, the passion in Chillingworth is extinguished, too, leaving him shriveled up. Without either love or revenge to live for, Chillingworth dies shortly after Dimmesdale. Because of Hester’s actions does Chillingworth pursues vengeance towards Dimmesdale by keeping him alive and slowly torturing him through the use poison. From the very beginning when Chillingworth first appears and sees Hester, he is already angered. Skinner 's work drew attention to the responses of the human being that produce the reinforcing or rewarding goal object. Skinner describes behavioral change as a function of response consequences. It is the outcome produced by the action that causes the behavioral change. Due to Hester Prynne’s unlawful act of adultery, Chillingworth gradually changes his behavior from an intellectually respected man, to the epitome of evil in the novel. It is as Skinner