Quoting from the 5th edition of Kalat's _Biological Psychology_ (1995),
I (Jeff Ricker) wrote:
> "Have you ever heard the expression 'running around like a chicken
with its
> head cut off'? A rather gruesome image, but a chicken with its head
cut off
> _can_ run around...for a little while. Naturally, it does not run
toward
> anything or away from anything; it just runs. Nevertheless, it
maintains
> its balance even while running on bumpy ground or up or down a slope.
> In short, the spinal cord can control walking and running." (p. 285)
Bob Keefer responded:
>Ya know, growing up on an actual farm, I had often heard the expression
>"running around like a chicken with its head cut off," but I never took
>it to mean actual -running-, as none of the dozens (hundreds?) of
>chickens I personally chopped the heads off of -ever- ran around. Oh,
>they -all- would flop around, or at least twitch, and some would even
>move a few feet or even sort of 'hop' if one of their spasming legs
>happened to fall underneath them, but I never saw one run. I'm
skeptical
>that a headless chicken could run on bumpy ground or up/down a slope,
as
>the balance mechanism is no longer attached to the chick, AFAIK.
Steven Voss agreed based on his experiences. Rick Stevens reported that
he once observed a chicken run around after its head had been pulled off
(yuck!). Stephen Black gave a reference to one anecdote supporting
Kalat's claim and Pamela Shapiro suggested that it may have to do with
the location of the cut. Richard Platt found support for Pamela's
speculation.
Since I have always assumed that the saying was true, I enjoyed
tremendously having the claim subjected to skeptical analysis. In my
courses, I like to make the point that we have been taught many things
about psychological matters that often aren't true (such as the 10%
myth). This may be another example. I sent Kalat an email to see if he
had any references for his claim. My completely unsubstantiated guess is
that, on rare occasions, a chicken (aren't roosters male chickens,
Stephen??) has run around after its head has been chopped off. This was
seen as so amazing that it was even turned into a saying. Does anyone
know if people executed by guillotine ever got up and ran around? If
more information is available on this, I probably would use this as
another (somewhat morbid) example in my courses of widely believed
claims that are not true (or, at least, that have qualifications).
Jeff
--
Jeffry P. Ricker, Ph.D. Office Phone: (602) 423-6213
9000 E. Chaparral Rd. FAX Number: (602) 423-6298
Psychology Department [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
"For every problem, there is a solution that is neat, simple, and
wrong." H. L. Mencken
