Would the idea that the disciplining techniques your parents used on you, or you may have used on your own children was first developed on animals such as rats bother you? Why, or why not? It just so happens that techniques like the timeout in fact were based on animal studies.
Psychologists who work with children and families tend to avoid mentioning to parents that the treatments they use are often based on research done on animals. It’s no secret that the widely used technique of the timeout was developed in studies on rats or that important early research leading to treatments for anxiety in humans was done on dogs, cats, and other species—but the subject doesn’t come up a lot in conversation. [...] Talking about the underpinnings of psychology in animal research tends to make parents uneasy, even upset [..] because of what they think it implies about their children. “You’re saying my kid’s like a rat? You’re saying my kid’s not complex and unique? What about this picture he drew of Spider-Man sobbing in a rainstorm?”
From: Animal research and your child’s behavior. (Slate)
I would argue that operant conditioning existed prior to the defining of operant conditioning, nonetheless I think the heart of the issue that the Slate article is addressing is the fact that people like to view themselves as above, and beyond the animal world, and our minds beyond the simple chemical reactions happening between neurons. I can’t blame anyone for that, even if I don’t agree.
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I agree with your assessment of why it bothers people. It doesn’t bother me. We are indeed much more like other animals than some of us like to admit. And in my experience, children respond much like dogs.
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