Spike and operant conditioning

[Jam]

Given that Maggie Walsh was a psychology professor, the operant conditioning connotations of the chip were probably a conscious choice made by the writers. It makes me wonder if this was what Walsh was testing, or at least one of the things she was testing.

Spike considers causing physical harm and he gets a zap to the brain, which serves as a positive punishment. In theory, this should make the behaviour less likely to occur or make the behaviour extinct.

So would Spike's case suggest that violence/chaos is innate vampiric behaviour and the chip was unsuccessful in changing Spike's behaviours? I think season 4 would suggest this (which is when the writers would presumably be most conscious of the operant conditioning aspect). Although Spike couldn't be physically violent with people, he accommodated after realising he could psychologically mess with humans, most clearly evidenced in "The Yoko Factor." And then in seasons 5 and especially 6, he still has violent/chaotic tendencies. It would seem the violent behaviours are not at all extinct.

I guess I'm interested in asking two questions here:
1. Was Spike a successful or unsuccessful case of operant conditioning?
2. Could the violent behaviours in (most) vampires be changed using this form of operant conditioning? Or are these behaviours completely innate?

This could've been a great opportunity to give commentary on whether vampires are innately evil, or if their behaviours could be successfully changed. But all we have to go on is the case study of Spike and because of that, I'm not quite sure where I stand on either of these questions. So I'd like to hear others' thoughts!

 

[Ethan Reigns]

We get some clue from Ward in "Primeval" what Maggie Walsh was trying to do:

WARD
This was an experiment. The
Initiative represented the government's
interest in not only controlling the
Otherworldly Menace, but in
harnessing its power for our
own military purposes. It is
the considered opinion of this
council that the experiment has failed.

It appears that Maggie Walsh intended to neutralize demonic enemies and produce an otherworldly army of demons under her control. Spike was controlled but the control would prevent him from being militarily useful against anything other than demons. What Spike wanted to do and what he could do were two different things.

I don't think anyone doubts that vampires are innately evil, as explained earlier in "Lie to Me" where Buffy explains to Ford:

BUFFY
I got a newsflash, braintrust. That's not
how it works. You die. And a demon
sets up shop in your old house. It walks
and talks and remembers your life but
it's not you.

Behaviour was successfully changed in Spike - he tried to be his usual self but found extreme pain, even pointing a toy gun at someone. He could not complete his attack on Willow or anyone other than Buffy after her return from the grave. He could still fight demons.

 

[Taake]

I would suggest that Spike was an unsuccessful experiment. His behaviour was changed under limited circumstances. The chip. The chip successfully modified his behaviour, but not his wishes or urges.
Buffy has the chip removed when Spike has a soul, but before that I don't think she, or anyone else, would have advocated for it's removal no matter if he was in love with her or not, because the chip was a muzzle to his behaviour, not a permanent change to it.

One could argue that Spike had changed, but one cannot guarantee that he wouldn't go back to old ways if (soulless) the chip was removed. With the exception of not wanting to hurt Buffy (or anyone close to her due to how it would affect her) it's simply impossible to say that Spike, sans chip, was changed. Without his feelings for Buffy in fact one could definitely argue that he hadn't changed at all.

So Spike's a failed experiment to me because Buffy , not the chip, is the component most successful in changing his behavior, and she wasn't a factor in the experiment 🙂

 

[DeadlyDuo]

I would suggest that Spike was an unsuccessful experiment. His behaviour was changed under limited circumstances. The chip. The chip successfully modified his behaviour, but not his wishes or urges.
Buffy has the chip removed when Spike has a soul, but before that I don't think she, or anyone else, would have advocated for it's removal no matter if he was in love with her or not, because the chip was a muzzle to his behaviour, not a permanent change to it.

One could argue that Spike had changed, but one cannot guarantee that he wouldn't go back to old ways if (soulless) the chip was removed. With the exception of not wanting to hurt Buffy (or anyone close to her due to how it would affect her) it's simply impossible to say that Spike, sans chip, was changed. Without his feelings for Buffy in fact one could definitely argue that he hadn't changed at all.

So Spike's a failed experiment to me because Buffy , not the chip, is the component most successful in changing his behavior, and she wasn't a factor in the experiment 🙂

Agreed.

Also I think the chip was an act of cruelty as it prevented a vampire (Spike) from attacking humans which is a vampire's primary food source. It's like preventing a lion from attacking Zebras. Whether you consider this okay or not depends on whether you're the lion or the zebra.

Also the most effective way of operant conditioning is to reward good behaviour rather than just punishing bad. The chip prevented Spike from physically attacking humans, but he never got an incentive to not go about it another way eg manipulating and setting up situations. It's why with children you tell them off when they've done something naughty but praise them when they've done something kind or good. The kids want the attention. To them, attention is still attention whether it is negative or positive. Without positive attention the kid will misbehave because any attention is better than none at all. You need them to want the positive attention so they have an incentive to be good.

This is where the initiative failed. There was no incentive for the vampires not to harm humans, they may have been physically incapable but that doesn't stop them from getting someone else to do it.

 

[Jam]

I would suggest that Spike was an unsuccessful experiment. His behaviour was changed under limited circumstances. The chip. The chip successfully modified his behaviour, but not his wishes or urges.
Buffy has the chip removed when Spike has a soul, but before that I don't think she, or anyone else, would have advocated for it's removal no matter if he was in love with her or not, because the chip was a muzzle to his behaviour, not a permanent change to it.

One could argue that Spike had changed, but one cannot guarantee that he wouldn't go back to old ways if (soulless) the chip was removed. With the exception of not wanting to hurt Buffy (or anyone close to her due to how it would affect her) it's simply impossible to say that Spike, sans chip, was changed. Without his feelings for Buffy in fact one could definitely argue that he hadn't changed at all.

So Spike's a failed experiment to me because Buffy , not the chip, is the component most successful in changing his behavior, and she wasn't a factor in the experiment 🙂

Agreed! Any time he thought the chip didn't work, he very quickly tried to take advantage of these situations. He really didn't change.

Also the most effective way of operant conditioning is to reward good behaviour rather than just punishing bad. The chip prevented Spike from physically attacking humans, but he never got an incentive to not go about it another way eg manipulating and setting up situations. It's why with children you tell them off when they've done something naughty but praise them when they've done something kind or good. The kids want the attention. To them, attention is still attention whether it is negative or positive. Without positive attention the kid will misbehave because any attention is better than none at all. You need them to want the positive attention so they have an incentive to be good.

That's a great point! It was an incomplete experiment that was probably a failure from the start because of this.