Lucky Socks and Psychology?

Lucky Socks and Psychology?

By: Devonna Chapa

One can only wonder why people link a good day with an accessory such as socks. Lucky bracelet, lucky shirt, lucky pants, and lucky socks; individuals wear them in result to having a good day or landing a job, but has anyone ever wondered why humans think such a silly thing? I’m sure that accessories cannot really make you have a good day. Well, how to find the answer to this superstitious behavior lies within psychology and the findings of the American psychologist B. F. Skinner.

Many psychologists have contributed their fair share of theories, experiments, and research. A specific psychologist that has contributed to the understanding of human behavior is B. F. Skinner. Skinner is known for his 1948 experiment with pigeons and operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is the type of learning in which behaviors are emitted [in the presence of stimuli] to earn rewards or avoid punishment (Morris & Maisto, 2002). With this experiment flourished a known psychology term called superstitious behavior. Superstitious behavior is an action that is followed closely by a rein forcer and the subject tends to repeat the action (Morris & Maisto, 2002). Skinner came upon this term by performing an experiment where he placed a bird in a cage that contained only a food hopper (Morris & Maisto, 2002). During random times Skinner would drop grains into the food hopper. He found that the pigeon would perform certain actions before the food was dropped such as hopping around, standing on one foot, or strutting around with a stretched neck (Morris & Maisto, 2002). Skinner had no means to drop the grains in while the pigeon engaged in these actions; it was pure coincidence. It was coincidence that the food appeared when the action was repeated (Morris & Maisto, 2002). Skinner then labeled this behavior as superstitious hence the term superstitious behavior.

Skinners discovery or superstitious behavior can also be implemented in humans. Humans may engage in superstitious behavior if they happen to link a certain accessory to a positive reinforcement such as a good day. Reinforcement could be positive or negative; reinforcers or stimulus that follow a behavior and increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated (Morris & Maisto, 2002). During the experiment with the pigeons Skinner did not use punishment to get the pigeons to perform the voluntary actions. A punishment is any event whose presence decreases the likelihood that the ongoing behavior will recur (Morris & Maisto, 2002). Skinner simply discovered the spontaneous reaction of the pigeon and linked it to human behavior.

Skinner’s research has contributed to the understanding of human behavior. Skinner has also helped us understand the meaning of “a lucky bracelet or lucky socks”.