Acutes and Operant Conditioning

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In The One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it is made clear that the only way you are getting out alive is if you are an Acute and you conform to Big Nurse’s rules and standards. Once you become a Chronic, you’re there for life. Because of operant conditioning, Nurse Ratched was able to wrap the boys around her finger to make them conform. Operant conditioning is when behavior choices change in response to consequences. So the Acutes would conform to avoid lobotomies, shock therapy, and the high risk of becoming a Chronic and never escaping her grasp. One man who really fleshed out our definition of operant conditioning was B.F. Skinner. He did multiple experiments where he taught pigeons to read and rats to recognize different types of music just by classical conditioning. Nurse Ratched conditions the Acutes to behave by making an example of the Chronics, knowing none of them to want to end up like them, unable to ever escape. For this reason, they conform and act in line like Big Nurse wants them to. Similar to Skinner and his box, Nurse Ratched had her dayroom and the glass to watch the patients through, controlling and modifying their behavior.

Citations

McLeod, S. (2007). B.F. Skinner. Retrieved January 28, 2019, from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/44186702/Skinner.pdf? AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1548739124&Signature=zQdJM7O2Nu2odAfTSvSDu0c9jRQ=&response-content-disposition=inline; filename=Skinner_-_Operant_Conditioning.pdf Source updated in 2015

Myers, D. G. (2001). Psychology: David G. Myers(10th ed.). New York: Worth.

Sexual Identity

An image from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest movie, showing the relationship of the patients and women

A healthy expression of one’s sexuality is an important aspect of their individuality. Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it is implied that in order to be considered sane, one must exhibit a clear sexual identity. It was extremely hard for patients to express their sexual identity due to their damaging relationships with women and how many supposed sex acts that would take place in the ward such as cases of rape patients.

In an American History article, it states, “Sexuality, along with race and gender, is an aspect of identity that… has demonstrated the centrality of sexuality to definitions of American national identity” (Turner). This means that sexuality is a key part of defining who we are as individuals. In the novel, Kesey constantly comes back to this idea of expressing one’s sexuality, especially through McMurphy who clearly has expressed his sexuality. For example, he had even brought a very sexual deck of playing cards. If this idea of sexuality being an alignment of one’s individuality, then it was clear that McMurphy had his own identity and was sane.

In an article on sexual orientation, it states, “Although frank discussions of sexual behavior still often inhabit the realm of low humor, the general public has become increasingly tolerant of serious discussion regarding the issue of sexual orientation, especially as it relates to individual rights and attempts to forge identity” (“Sexual Orientation”). Throughout the novel, Ratched continuously tried numerous methods to try to make her patients conform to her societies identity: straight, sane man. The Catch-22 was that whether or not you showed evidence of sanity, for example, through your expression of your sexuality, Nurse Ratched would just label “Acute”, and she would use shock therapy and other methods to make a perfectly normal or increasingly better patient into a type of vegetative state.

Sexual identity is a major aspect of one’s individuality and how sane they are, but the novel shows that even with this, one’s individuality was never going to be truly free unless it conformed to Nurse Ratched’s idea of a perfect, sane individual.

Citations

Sexual Orientation. (2006). In A. M. Hacht (Ed.), Literary Themes for Students. Literary Themes for Students: Race and Prejudice (Vol. 2, pp. 565-568). Detroit, MI: Gale. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX2661800062/SUIC?u=sacred&sid=SUIC&xid=14ec908d

Turner, W. B. (2003). Sexuality. In S. I. Kutler (Ed.), Dictionary of American History (3rd ed., Vol. 7, pp. 328-332). New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3401803823/SUIC?u=sacred&sid=SUIC&xid=b1d677fd

How One’s Environment Affects Identity

One’s environment determines the ways in which one develops their sense of individuality and identity. Interaction with others is crucial for humans to develop healthily. Michael Bond writes that “chronically lonely people have higher blood pressure, are more vulnerable to infection, and are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and dementia” and that “Loneliness also interferes with a whole range of everyday functioning, such as sleep patterns, attention and logical and verbal reasoning” (Bond, 2014). Without a surrounding group of people, it is difficult to form one’s identity because they have no role models, like-minded people, colleagues, or people to challenge their beliefs.  F. Hossain and M. Ali declare, “All human qualities such as: to think, to enquire, to learn language to play and work only developed in human society. All this developed through interaction with others” (Hossain, 2014). Though humans need to be in communities in order to healthily mature mentally, some communities can be very damaging to someone trying to understand themselves by forming their own identity. On page 162 of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Chief Bromden says, “But I remembered one thing it wasn’t me that started acting deaf; it was people that first started acting like I was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all” (161). Shortly after, he then reflects on his childhood, specifically something his father told him. On page 162 of the novel, Chief Bromden says, “Papa says if you don’t watch it people will force you one way or the other, into doing what they think you should do, or into just being mule-stubborn and doing the opposite out of spite.” Being in an environment in which one’s identity is forcibly given to them by someone is detrimental to how they develop their own psyche. Chief Bromden, though not actually deaf, is treated as such in his environment and is assigned this specific role. This is an identity unanimously given to him by his surrounding community; therefore, he obeys, pretending to be deaf, conforming to the group-conjured identity given to him rather than forming his own identity, his own idea of self.

Bond, M. (May 14 2014). Future – How extreme isolation warps the mind. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20140514-how-extreme-isolation-warps-minds

Hossain, F. and Ali, M. (2014) Relation between Individual and Society. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 2, 130-137.

Conformity and Identity in a Power Dynamic

In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, Chief Bromden fears the Combine, which, literally, means a group of people acting together and which, in the book, means the force driven by society that coerces unity among individuals, specifically the patients. Bromden’s situation is quite similar to the Stanford Prison Experiment where Philip Zimbardo tried, “to show what happened when all of the individuality and dignity was stripped away from a human, and their life was completely controlled” (Shuttleworth, 2008). In the novel, attempts by patients to gain control over themselves result in violence and, in a specific case, death. In Chapter 14 of the novel, Bromden tells the reader about a patient who, “Cut both nuts off and bled to death,” then quickly comments on his self-inflicted death, saying, “all the guy had to do was wait.” This statement implies that had the patient not castrated himself, the institution would have, furthermore meaning that the patients did not have control over their own bodies. Nikolas Rose (1998) writes that “’technologies of the self’ – ‘self-steering mechanism’ [are] the ways in which individuals experience, understand, judge, and conduct. Technologies of the self take the form of the elaboration of certain techniques for the conduct of ones relation with oneself, for example, requiring one to relate to oneself epistemologically (know yourself), despotically (master yourself), or in other ways (take care of yourself)” (p. 29). In both the Stanford Prison Experiment and in the psychiatric hospital in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the prisoners/patients are stripped of their individuality and of the power they have over themselves. This psychologically affects the way they form their own identity, and soon they see themselves as whatever role they are assigned in the power dynamic with which they are involved. When individuals are not given power over themselves, their role in their society/environment, and their developing identity, they form a narrow vision of themselves and either comply with the Combine, the forces that coerce uniformity, or form a fervent hatred for it, such as Bromden exemplifies.

Rose, Nikolas. (1998). Inventing our selves: Psychology, power, and personhood. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Shuttleworth, Martyn. (June 22, 2008). Stanford Prison Experiment. Retrieved from https://explorable.com/stanford-prison-experiment.

The “Combine”

In Ken Kasey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the main character, Chief, speaks about the “Combine” that controls all the patients in the ward under Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched, in this case, is the head of the Combine. No one wanted to be different from the outside because they’d be put in the ward and once in the ward, they didn’t want to act out. All they wanted was to conform and blend in to not draw attention to them and to eventually, be dismissed. In today’s society, it seems to be a bit different. People don’t want to be like everyone else, they want a sense of identity and to not be apart of today’s “combine”. However, in some parts of the world, people are so tired of conforming yet afraid to let their weaknesses show, they take their own lives, similar to Cheswick. Most of the patients’ behavior can be linked to the attribution theory that explains a person’s behavior based on their situation or disposition. A good example of this would be when all the ‘acutes’ gang up on the scapegoat of the group therapy sessions.

Citations:

Myers, D. G. (2001). Psychology: David G. Myers (10th ed.). New York: Worth

Wehrfritz, G., Takayama, H., Itoi, K., & Hodgson, D. (2001, August 20). Death

By Conformity. Newsweek International, 18.

History of Individuality vs Conformity

An image of the Asch Conformity Experiment

Some could argue that conformity is a rather new concept, but conformity has always been a part of our history as humans. Wars break out for this exact reason. If one dares to break from the social norms, it causes rifts among people. Examples of this date back for centuries. One such would even be Jesus Christ. He was a Jewish man living under Roman rule, and he dared to spread the word of His God. It was a beautiful revolution that led to one of the world’s greatest religions. Any war really could be argued as an example of people or countries breaking the norms they were once a part.

In the United States, there have been many revolutions started as a result of the rifts of two or more groups of people. Examples of this are the Civil War, the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Rights Movement, the Gay Right’s Movement, March for Our Lives, and many more. All of these wars, revolutions, or groups all gathered for a cause: they wanted change. With hard work and effort, they changed lives and broke the social normalities they were living in. Women were living in a time with little to no rights; they starved themselves to get those rights for women, then and now. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for the equal rights of African American and end segregation of two peoples.

The lines

Even on a smaller level, conforming has become a natural way of living. People conform to the labels they are given and often give in to peer pressure. A good example of this is the Asch Conformity Experiment. Social Psychologist Solomon Asch conducted an experiment in the 1950s that showed how people often conform to the majority. He devised a group of 8 participants, but 7 of the “participants” were actually associates of the experiment disguised as participants. The experimenter asked each of the participants to choose which of the three lines on the right card matched the length of the line on the left card. The correct answer was obvious. If the participant chose the wrong answer, it was clearly due to peer pressure.

The results of the experiment showed that 32% of the participants who were put in this situation conformed to the answers of the rest of the group. Asch found that the factors that increased individuality were social support and answering in private. This case shows obviously how in society we as people are influenced by those around us.

Citations:

Nederman, C. J. (2005). Individualism. In M. C. Horowitz (Ed.), New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (Vol. 3, pp. 1113-1117). Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3424300381/SUIC?u=sacred&sid=SUIC&xid=c4b66b21

Stand firm. (2016, November 5). Newcastle Herald [Newcastle, Australia], p. 10. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A513261910/SUIC?u=sacred&sid=SUIC&xid=162f614e