013. Littler Albert
usedbooks on Dec. 9, 2008
This is a take on a classic psychology experiment. I actually have thought of half a dozen gags related to this experiment. Maybe later I'll draw another one. ;-) My first pet, btw, was a white lab rat that had retired from the psychology lab of the local college. Luckily, he didn't seem to have any kind of adverse conditioning. (Perhaps, unlike Albert, he was properly desensitized after his ordeal.)
Tantz_Aerine at 6:02AM, Feb. 26, 2009
I half expected you to have the gag where the rat says "I have conditioned the guy to bring the food every time I press the button" to another rat-friend. XD This is classical conditioning, by the way. (Negative conditioning is slightly different though the basic concept is the same)
Loud_G at 6:06AM, Jan. 30, 2009
Awwww...that is sad :(
roycemarie at 11:13AM, Dec. 10, 2008
The rat looks OK, but the conditioning is sad. Why not condition animals to love instead of fear?
amanda at 10:19AM, Dec. 10, 2008
Hehe poor rat. Actually, I felt really bad for the kid who turned out to be afraid of so many things. =[ "Negative reinforcement" is another one of those things I shout when the situation is vaguely appropriate. ^.^
usedbooks at 9:24AM, Dec. 10, 2008
Actually, that experiment was about conditioning people. The poor boy became terrified of most furry things -- including a Santa Claus beard. (And they never had a chance to desensitize him after the experiment.) I did get the size wrong in the first panel, but the last two seem right (if it's a male anyway; females are about half the size -- at least when full grown). Two pounds is the largest I've seen a domestic rat ([i]Rattus norvegicus[/i].)
n_y_japlander at 8:32AM, Dec. 10, 2008
conditioning animals..... if some people use half of their grants to condition some people.... yes I dream! *you guys think that's a big rat (about average size growing up) check out an Indonesian rat http://www.rxbbx.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/new_giant_rat_papua_indonesia.jpg
usedbooks at 5:55AM, Dec. 10, 2008
I was in a pet store the other day thinking that the rats there looked so *tiny.* Maybe I'm feeding mine too much or something... ^_^;
ghostrunner at 1:55AM, Dec. 10, 2008
thats an industrial sized rat
patrickdevine at 10:09PM, Dec. 9, 2008
Aww... poor rat! He looks really big for a lab rat though.