Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century

Written by Lauren Slater

Narrated by Jo Anna Perrin

Beginning with B. F. Skinner and the legend of a child raised in a box, Lauren Slater takes us from a deep empathy with Stanley Milgram's obedience subjects to a funny and disturbing re-creation of an experiment questioning the validity of psychiatric diagnosis. Previously described only in academic journals and textbooks, these often daring experiments have never before been narrated as stories, chock-full of plot, wit, personality, and theme.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jan 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9781515981671

Lauren Slater

Lauren Slater is the author of Welcome to My Country, Prozac Diary and Love Works Like This, and has written articles and contributed pieces to the New York Times, Harper's, Elle and Nerve. Her essays are widely anthologized and she is a frequent guest on US radio shows, including 'The People's Pharmacy' on NPR.

Reviews for Opening Skinner's Box

[waltzmn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I must have a different definition of "great."As the title says, book is about psychological experimentation -- and some of the experiments, such as B. F. Skinner's, are genuinely great. But some... aren't. They don't lead anywhere. Except, it seems to me, in Lauren Slater's mind.That's my real problem with this book. There seems to be a disconnect between Slater and the science. She often doesn't want it to be true, and so she makes it come out as if the science didn't work. And then she keeps on piling on text that isn't about the experimentation.I know that some experiments are cruel. I know that some produce surprising things. But the way to get around that isn't to criticize the experiment. It's to either find another (testable) explanation for the results, or to find a way to disconfirm them.Psychology and psychiatry have made great strides in the last century -- and they still have a long way to go. But, for the most part, these are not the experiments that made the strides (e.g. where is the discussion of the causes of psychosis, and the treatments that do and don't work to deal with it?), and the discussion does not tell us where we have failed. Slater has studied psychology -- but, as a person with training in the hard sciences, this book felt like pure touchy-feely-ness.

[b.masonjudy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My uncle lent me this book to give me a brief bit of background in the field of psychology and I didn't expect to enjoy the prose quite so much. Slater's choice of structure is excellent, interweaving the narrative of the scientists with their story and her explanations of concepts are lucid. The only instances, mostly in the first couple essays, that were overwrought and her over amplification of herself in these pieces weakens them as it is not a consistent thread.

[tchelyzt-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[vegetarian_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A brief, readable history of psychological experiments on animals and humans. Fails to draw out many of the ethical implications of such research.

[acqwoods · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is about ten controversial and revolutionary psychological experiments of the twentieth century. You'll probably recognize some of them, such as Stanley Milgram's obedience research, but others will be brand new. In fact, it was fascinating to see how two experiments could appear to completely contradict each other yet still be valid. My only criticism of the book was that sometimes the author got too wrapped up in her own experience with the experiments and didn't elaborate on them as much as she could, but overall it's a fun way to learn about some really interesting experiments without getting bogged down in the technical side of things.

[ruthm2010 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very illuminating. As someone who has studied psychology and learned about many of the experiments in this book it was fascinating to learn about the background to them. Lots of details about the people behind the science helps to put it into context. I've read this book a few times and know I will go back to it again.

[francescadefreitas · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a quick read and I enjoyed it, but I wouldn't use it as my first reference source for information about any of the experiments described. The author has made some effort to interview the experimenters, subjects, or family members of participants in a set of well-known psychological experiments. Each chapter is a very subjective story of the experiment, and the impact it has had on our understanding of the human mind, and of the effect the experiment had on the author. While the author's emotional reaction to her research did make it easy to identify with the 'characters' in the story, this reads like a third hand memoir. I was also bothered by how people's religion was almost always identified, even when it had no bearing on the subject of the experiment.So - an entertaining read, OK for getting an overview, might be good to hook someone looking at the subject for the first time, but I'd advise readers to also look at other sources.

[snarkhunt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pure poetry. Laura uses the structure of foundational experiments in social psychology to raise deep questions about medicine, free will, obedience, and the ethics of experiments that involve conscious beings.I've reconsidered long held ideas because of this book. I cannot recommend it highly enough for people who are unfamiliar with how brains work but don't want to wade through the dry details.If Mary Roach wrote about psychology, but actually had something to say, she might write this book.

[elliepotten · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Beautifully written book combining journalistic curiosity, psychological intelligence and a novelist's lyricism in telling the deeper stories behind some of the twentieth century's most incredible psychological experiments. From delving further into well-known studies, such as Milgram's obedience testing, to exploring lesser known but equally profound experiments, Slater opens our eyes to the ethics, the narratives, and the insights into humanity provided by these discoveries, and the amazing minds that drove them forward.

[donkeytiara · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

...a clever and sometimes difficult book to read about major groundbreaking experiments in psychology in the 1900 until now. The wire mother is in here, as well as lobotomies, free will, and many other looks into experiments, their accidental biases and how they effected humanity. MUCH easier to read than a textbook, that's for sure!!

[amf0001 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I can't rave enough about this book. Fascinating subject, beautifully told. This is a non-fiction account of some of the most significant psychological experiments of the 20th century, putting them and their creators in context and showing you the impact of the studies on the world and the psychologists who thought them up. Very informative and equally readable!