Thursday, October 30, 2014

CHIMING IN: A case of operant conditioning

In last week's column I mentioned the suggestion that a Buddhist made at the recent religion forum sponsored by West Grove Friends Meeting: Install a "mindfulness chime" on your computer and cellphone that sounds at random to remind you to take a deep breath and a mini-break from your workday.
For fun, I installed it. And Gilbert and Binnie, my guinea pigs, have welcomed it enthusiastically as a signal that they deserve carrots: "Gongggg .... WEEEK! WEEEK! WEEEK!"
Of course, when they get the requested carrot, this just reinforces the pattern. Who is training whom?

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