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Vart tog behaviorismen vägen? : Social responsivitet mellan barn och vuxen, hund och människa.

Bosseldal, Ingrid LU (2019) In Lund Studies in Educational Sciences
Abstract
This thesis studies how humans and other social responsive animals can meet and get together as companion species and what role radical behaviorist B F Skinner’s learning theory and operant conditioning possibly can play in this.

Drawing from theories of discourse and discourse analysis, social responsivity and companion species, the thesis analyzes what happens with Skinner’s learning theory when it migrates from one educative context to another. How is it practiced, advocated, problematized or refused? What, if anything, do different discourses about children, dogs and pupils has to do with this?

Based on a variety of material, such as curricula for the elementary school in Sweden, newspaper articles and debates,... (More)
This thesis studies how humans and other social responsive animals can meet and get together as companion species and what role radical behaviorist B F Skinner’s learning theory and operant conditioning possibly can play in this.

Drawing from theories of discourse and discourse analysis, social responsivity and companion species, the thesis analyzes what happens with Skinner’s learning theory when it migrates from one educative context to another. How is it practiced, advocated, problematized or refused? What, if anything, do different discourses about children, dogs and pupils has to do with this?

Based on a variety of material, such as curricula for the elementary school in Sweden, newspaper articles and debates, official reports of The Swedish government, textbooks, lectures, blogposts and special courses for on the one hand parents with young and demanding children and on the other dog owners, the study examines and uncover various conceptions of Skinner’s learning theory and educative relations based on operant conditioning.

It proves that there are distinct differences in how the theory is understood and described. In some contexts it is rejected because it is said to be old, outdated and associated with hierarchical relations, use of punishment and control. In other contexts there can be completely different discourses about the learning theory: some talks about it as to wimpy and ingratiating and therefor useless for anyone that wants to establish educative relations based on fixed rules and clear boundaries, other has experienced it as a strong, liberating and even empowering method for establishing relations between humans and dogs, where both parts can and are supposed to take initiatives.

By making this contradictory conceptions and apprehensions visible, and intelligible, the study also aims to destabilize the use of what can be described as straw man arguments in the educational debate about operant conditioning and Skinners learning theory.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • professor Holmberg, Tora, Uppsala universitet
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Barn Hund Behaviorism Skinner Foucault Uppfostran Utbildning Johan Asplund Inlärningsteori Donna Haraway Companion species
in
Lund Studies in Educational Sciences
issue
3
pages
379 pages
publisher
Lund University, Faculty of Social Sciences
defense location
C126, LUX, Helgonavägen 3, Lund
defense date
2019-04-26 13:00:00
ISBN
978-91-88899-20-0
978-91-88899-19-4
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
48ccb2e7-8123-442d-ab4c-0b3584a9173d
date added to LUP
2019-03-29 15:49:17
date last changed
2021-03-22 21:21:00
@phdthesis{48ccb2e7-8123-442d-ab4c-0b3584a9173d,
  abstract     = {{This thesis studies how humans and other social responsive animals can meet and get together as companion species and what role radical behaviorist B F Skinner’s learning theory and operant conditioning possibly can play in this. <br/><br/>Drawing from theories of discourse and discourse analysis, social responsivity and companion species, the thesis analyzes what happens with Skinner’s learning theory when it migrates from one educative context to another. How is it practiced, advocated, problematized or refused? What, if anything, do different discourses about children, dogs and pupils  has to do with this?<br/><br/>Based on a variety of material, such as curricula for the elementary school in Sweden, newspaper articles and debates, official reports of The Swedish government, textbooks, lectures, blogposts and special courses for on the one hand parents with young and demanding children and on the other dog owners, the study examines and uncover various conceptions of Skinner’s learning theory and educative relations based on operant conditioning. <br/><br/>It proves that there are distinct differences in how the theory is understood and described. In some contexts it is rejected because it is said to be old, outdated and associated with hierarchical relations, use of punishment and control. In other contexts there can be completely different discourses about the learning theory: some talks about it as to wimpy and ingratiating and therefor useless for anyone that wants to establish educative relations based on fixed rules and clear boundaries, other has experienced it as a strong, liberating and even empowering method for establishing relations between humans and dogs, where both parts can and are supposed to take initiatives. <br/><br/>By making this contradictory conceptions and apprehensions visible, and intelligible, the study also aims to destabilize the use of what can be described as straw man arguments in the educational debate about operant conditioning and Skinners learning theory. <br/>}},
  author       = {{Bosseldal, Ingrid}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-88899-20-0}},
  keywords     = {{Barn Hund Behaviorism Skinner Foucault Uppfostran Utbildning Johan Asplund Inlärningsteori Donna Haraway Companion species}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  month        = {{03}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University, Faculty of Social Sciences}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Lund Studies in Educational Sciences}},
  title        = {{Vart tog behaviorismen vägen? : Social responsivitet mellan barn och vuxen, hund och människa.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/62317048/Ingrid_Bosseldal_Vart_tog_behaviorismen_v_gen.pdf}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}