Project Gutenberg
2019-10-05
Public domain in the USA.
103
McConnell, James V.
1925
1990
McConnell, James Vernon
Finlay, Virgil
1914
1971
Finlay
Learning Theory
Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, December 1957
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
"Learning Theory" by James V. McConnell is a science fiction novel written during the late 1950s. The book explores themes of psychology and behaviorism through a unique narrative that examines concepts of learning, an important topic in the field of psychology. The protagonist, a psychologist, finds himself unwittingly studying his own behavior after being abducted and placed in a series of experimental tests reminiscent of the Skinner Box. The story unfolds as the main character grapples with his identity and circumstances after being taken aboard an alien spaceship. He realizes that he has become a subject in an experiment designed by an alien psychologist, where he must navigate various learning tasks—including pressing levers for food and solving mazes—while dealing with the psychological implications of his situation. As he experiences the trials imposed by his captor, he reflects on the nature of learning and behavior, ultimately trying to thwart the alien’s expectations by manipulating the results of his own performance. The novel challenges the reader to consider the ethical dimensions of experimentation and the limits of scientific understanding in the realm of behavior. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading ease score: 70.3 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
en
Science fiction
Short stories
Psychological fiction
Diary fiction
Human-alien encounters -- Fiction
College teachers -- Fiction
Experiments -- Fiction
Psychologists -- Fiction
PS
Text
Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
Category: Novels
Category: Psychiatry/Psychology
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