Geckos, Classical Conditioning and Imprinting
Shared my bedroom with this little man last night. Isn't he cute! I kept the lights off so that Ace couldn't see him. I'm not about to introduce gecko into his diet. I love their little shape and they keep the bugs at bay. He can stay as long as he wants!
Studywise, I'm cruising along. Stopping briefly to have a feed or spend some time with Carissa and aside from running some errands this morning, I've managed to stay focus. The net is a huge distraction as is my music. I can't listen to music and study!
Been fascinated and found myself ethically challenged all over again with some of the stuff we learn. Imprinting is interesting. Classical conditioning is interesting. I especially like it when it's applied to real life scenarios because that's how I remember it.
If you're interested, imprinting is when an animal (normally a bird, but not exclusively) will follow around the first thing he sees within 12-36 hours of birth. Here is a video of a duck following a puppy. And the Austrian Lorenz who tried it with Geese. Aside from being cute, it's kinda sad that they're robbed of a natural mother.
We've also been reading about attachment and well, reading about the experiments cruel bastard Harlow did on monkeys before ethical committees were set up. This stuff is heart-wrenching and repulsive. Here's a picture that broke my heart reading about a monkey who was deprived maternal attachment. Monkeys require the same social contact as us and in Harlow's experiment, the baby monkeys would choose the 'fake cloth mother' over food. I'll spare you some of the other images I've seen. They're just revolting.
Moving along..(I'm expecting my things and don't want to burst into tears today)
Classical conditioning is when our body reacts to something in a pyschological way and sometimes a physiological way. Real life example for you. A sober junkie who regularly shoots up at a particular location will get a rush when he walks towards it. It's all about the brain. I can't be bothered elaborating.
The environment becomes apart of the simulus that makes him high. So, if say, he decided to shoot up at your house, the high would decrease (despite same dosage) and as a consequence might take more drugs, leading to possible overdose and death. Maybe this could explain why so many druggie celebrities are found dead in hotel rooms from alleged over-doses when their friends say "Sure. he took drugs sometimes, but he knew what he was doing, man" - I don't know. It also makes me think about legalising shooting up galleries. If they get a high coming to the galleries as a regular, maybe their dosage could be decreased and professionals could work with them at the shooting up gallery. (Why do they call it a gallery, by the way?) but again, who wants them in their neighbourhood? Maybe if they're walking right past YOUR house to get to that high, it's not as big as an issue? I don't know. I told a friend this and she said to drown them all. I can't condone that though because whilst drug addicts are a trouble to society, they are also someone's kid, Dad or what not. They made a few bad choices and they're addicted. The world is full of addictions.
I seriously have to research what kind of experiments are still happening out there that's related to psych and animals. It totally revolts me.
Do you have an opinion on animal testing? I despise it. To my core. Maybe I'm in the wrong degree.
All the best
Cath
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8 smacks:
Oooh I love the way geckos feet are so sticky when you pick them up. We went to bali recently and they are everywhere! Cute!
Had lots of geckos in the house on Maui. The smart ones learned to stay out of reach of the cats!
Animal testing, pets, farm animals treatment are concerns. Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy by Mathew Scully is an excellent resource.
Oooh, I love those little geckos! We get a few skinks here too.
I've seen the monkey experiments you're talking about... so cruel, as are ALL animal experimentation, if you ask me.
Probably unsurprisingly, I have some very strong opinions on animal testing that I hold dear at a basic philosophical level. There is an Australian philosopher named Peter Singer who has written quite a lot of material on the ethics of how we use animals. Essentially, at a fundamental level, many people have already classified animals as lower forms of life, which is why they deem it to be okay to eat them, test on them, wear their skin or use various other bits in products that human use.
I think that in making the decision that a sentient being is lesser (e.g. buying into one or all of the above uses of animals), one has essentially given their consent and support for these practices to continue. At an industrial level, animals are still used to 'improve' products and ensure they are 'safe' for us (e.g. cosmetics, various drugs, cleaning products etc) and this is implicitly supported by those who purchase these products. The Choose Cruelty Free list (which can be found online or in health stores and the like) provides a list of Australian companies and subsidiaries that have been rigorously assessed in terms of animal testing in both the ingredients they use AND the final product.
The same applies to meat and dairy production - by purchasing products that do not actually fit the utopic, pain-free farm image most people like to imagine, they support cruel farming practices that take place long before death. The veal industry is absolutely sickening and closely linked to the dairy industry; egg collection is almost as bad as breeding chickens purely for meat. Animals of all types are kept in appalling conditions and often not 'treated' to the pain-free death that the farmers' federation has ostensibly secured for them. Death itself is surely a relief for animals who spend a lot of time wading through excrement or trapped in a tiny stall - sow stalls are yet another example of the terrible conditions pregnant sows live in.
So whilst I acknowledge that animal testing is an ethical issue and I do my best not to support it with my attitude or my money, I think it is part of the broader issue of animal ethics. And as a fellow psychology student, I know that a lot of the empirical evidence behind psychological theory comes directly from animal research. Next year you will see some results from perception/cognition work with more monkeys (Anna Ma-Wyatt's lectures) that will make you nauseous. Ultimately, though, we obviously can't change the historical ethical transgressions that many psychologists have made and we need to accept that by-products they delivered. Also, it provides a good yardstick for the progress that has been made in terms of ethics and research methodology.
Style, they are gorgeous I agree! I have a little pair of gecko earrings that climb my ear! They are always noticed by people and they're very popular!
xl - thanks for the link. I've bookmarked it and will check it out! I haven't bought anything from Amazon before. Is it safe?
Ute, I thought it was a skink at first but was delighted to find it was a special-lovely little lizard! I hear you on the animal cruelty!
Jo - hey woman. I'm so pleased you wrote such a strong, and knowledgeable comment about this. I was hoping you'd read it because you're already through 1st year. I totally dig the heads-up for Anna's lectures. I may try to get either stoned, or drunk for those...... I really don't handle it at all.
Your comment also made me re-think what I do put my money to! I had that cruelty-free list one time, and will re-print it and stick it to my fridge to remind me. We buy organic farm eggs, but I'm not sure about the meat.
Definitely something to think about...
cheers everyone!
Cath
Interesting post.
Animal testing ? A necessary evil, though I'm sure much more reliable 'simulation' testing is available now.
It really can be a cruel and horrible world.
Hi honey. I haven't seen a lizard in quite a while.
have you heard this one. A koala was sitting in a gum tree smoking a joint
when a little lizard walked past, looked up and said, 'Hey Koala! What are you doing?'
The koala said, 'Smoking a joint, come up and have some.'
So the little lizard climbed up and sat next to the koala where they enjoyed a few joints. After a while the little lizard said that his mouth was 'dry' and that he was going to get a drink from the river.
The little lizard was so stoned that he leaned over too far and fell into the river.
A crocodile saw this and swam over to the little lizard and helped him to the side. Then he asked the little lizard, 'What's the matter with you?'
The little lizard explained to the crocodile that he had been sitting with the koala in the tree, smoking a joint, but got too stoned and fell into the river while taking a drink..
The crocodile said that he had to check this out and walked into the rain forest, found the tree where the koala was sitting finishing a joint. The crocodile looked up and said,
'Hey you!'
So the koala looked down at him and said,
'Shiiiiiiiiiiit dude...
How much water did you drink!?'
Hope it made you laugh like it did me. :)
Geckos rulez
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