Fic: Operant Conditioning
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irishvampire13
Title: 'Operant Conditioning'
Rating: PG
Word Count: 310
Claim: The Master (6 Prompts: Metals)
Prompt: #4: Copper
Notes/Warnings: Mild sadism in the name of science
Summary: He prefers to refer to it as an experiment in operant conditioning.
Anyone else would call it torture. Anyone with a severe lack of imagination, that is.
He prefers to refer to it as an experiment in operant conditioning.
The Skinner box--something of a misnomer, as B.F. Skinner had, in fact, no desire whatsoever for the device to be named after him--is an apparatus that is perfect in its simplicity of use. Various stimuli can be used to reinforce desirable behavior patterns.
Of course, the reverse also applies. Certain stimuli can be applied to eradicate anything that the experimenter does not wish to see.
For the time being, he has no interest in positive reinforcement. Its negative counterpart is much more engrossing.
Toward that end, he has created his own Skinner box, on a somewhat larger scale. It would be impractical to line the floor with an electrified netting; the temptation to keep it in constant use would be too strong.
Instead, lengths of copper wire dangle from the ceiling, evenly- (and closely-) spaced. Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity. A current pours through them at odd, unpredictable intervals. The test subject, when he acquires one, will quickly learn to keep away from the wires.
In time, the subject will discover that the sole safe zone is in the far corner; a large chair is set up there, just out of range of the copper wires. It will offer them a place to rest, to recover from the experiment.
To recover from Phase One, that is. Phase Two ups the ante, so to speak.
Because the subject must sleep eventually. On awakening, they'll find themselves bound to that very chair.
With copper wire.
By now, the test subject should--presumably--associate copper wire with pain. If they're sufficiently sensible, then they'll know to keep still.
He hopes that they won't be that sensible. He'd hate to become bored.
Science should never be boring.
irishvampire13Title: 'Operant Conditioning'
Rating: PG
Word Count: 310
Claim: The Master (6 Prompts: Metals)
Prompt: #4: Copper
Notes/Warnings: Mild sadism in the name of science
Summary: He prefers to refer to it as an experiment in operant conditioning.
Anyone else would call it torture. Anyone with a severe lack of imagination, that is.
He prefers to refer to it as an experiment in operant conditioning.
The Skinner box--something of a misnomer, as B.F. Skinner had, in fact, no desire whatsoever for the device to be named after him--is an apparatus that is perfect in its simplicity of use. Various stimuli can be used to reinforce desirable behavior patterns.
Of course, the reverse also applies. Certain stimuli can be applied to eradicate anything that the experimenter does not wish to see.
For the time being, he has no interest in positive reinforcement. Its negative counterpart is much more engrossing.
Toward that end, he has created his own Skinner box, on a somewhat larger scale. It would be impractical to line the floor with an electrified netting; the temptation to keep it in constant use would be too strong.
Instead, lengths of copper wire dangle from the ceiling, evenly- (and closely-) spaced. Copper is an excellent conductor of electricity. A current pours through them at odd, unpredictable intervals. The test subject, when he acquires one, will quickly learn to keep away from the wires.
In time, the subject will discover that the sole safe zone is in the far corner; a large chair is set up there, just out of range of the copper wires. It will offer them a place to rest, to recover from the experiment.
To recover from Phase One, that is. Phase Two ups the ante, so to speak.
Because the subject must sleep eventually. On awakening, they'll find themselves bound to that very chair.
With copper wire.
By now, the test subject should--presumably--associate copper wire with pain. If they're sufficiently sensible, then they'll know to keep still.
He hopes that they won't be that sensible. He'd hate to become bored.
Science should never be boring.
