Hi all,
One of my favorite stories to tell in Learning class seems
like a "dumb dog" story at first, but really speaks to how
amazingly strong learned associations (and generalization)
can be.
One summer during college I worked for my town's
Department of Public Works. One day my truck partner
decided he needed to stop in on his house, so I joined
him. As we approached the front stoop, I heard an
incredible bellow of a bark coming from inside the house
that made my hair stand on end; I know there must be a
B I G dog in there. I gulped, but kept walking (slightly behind
my colleague).
When we entered, the barking escalated, and I thought
for sure I was going to get pounced on, and either licked or
bitten into submission. Sure enough, the dog (a lab-like
mutt) was huge and barking AND reared up on its
hind legs. Waiting for my heart to re-start, I happily noticed
a chain coming from the dogs collar, down towards the
ground. Ah, it's restrained, I thought. However, as my eyes
followed the chain to it's place of origin, I was *not* looking at
an iron gate, a stone wall, or a large appliance; rather, the dog
was chained to an EMPTY black kettle, which only had its
front edge still firmly on the ground. This bear of a dog was
barking to stop the band, wanting to love me or kill me like
there was no tomorrow, and there he was foiled by cute little
teakettle.
What I asked by colleague about this, he explained that
from the time he (the dog) was a puppy, he was always
chained to a black, wood-burning stove. Eventually, the
family got rid of the stove, but discovered that all they had to
do to keep the dog in line was to chain it to a black object,
and he'd stay put, never tightening the chain far enough to
discover he could move. I didn't witness it myself, but I was
told that when they want to give the dog some outside time,
they just leave him out on the front yard chained to a black
dress shoe!!!
I didn't ask (unfortunately) about whether they tested other
objects, black and non-black, to see how far the behavior
generalized. If only I'd had a video camera; it would have
made a wonderful class demonstration.
-Mike
P.S., If the behavior of my downstairs neighbors is any
indication, dogs are MUCH smarter than humans. Several
times a day I here my neighbors yelling complex English
sentences to their new puppy who's gladly ignoring them
while she frollics outside in the woods. Last night they tried
the following strategy (I am NOT making this up):
"ZOE!!! Come inside, Zoe!!! Okay, Zoe, we're leaving, so if
you don't want to come on a walk with us, that's too bad.
Did you hear me? I said we're LEAVING! Okay, FINE, if
you don't want to walk you can just stay out there without
us... This is your LAST CHANCE, Zoe. Zoe!! ZOE!!
Okay, too bad for you..."
At that point I had to put headphones on...
-Mike
*****************************************************
Michael J. Kane
Psychology Department
Georgia State University
University Plaza
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
phone: 404-651-0704
fax: 404-651-0753
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"It is morally as bad not to care whether a thing
is true or not, so long as it makes you feel good,
as it is not to care how you got your money as
long as you have it."
-- E.W. Teale
