Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Book Reading #20 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 5
Summary
The case study of this chapter was of MIT professor, Festinger. They produced a study on the happenings of a person's belief when compared to their behavior that they showed. The surprising conclusion of which was that people would change their belief rather than their behavior to fit their belief (cognitive dissonance). This came through obviously when it came to cults and their sure belief of end times or something similar.

Discussion
This once again is quite interesting study in the psychology of people. I love reading about these studies that totally refute what most people think that people should act like. When in fact it is a normal reaction when place in those circumstances. The cult mentality or something similar is so strong that it can capture the smartest of people and cause them to think the weirdest things.

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