Body Surface Variables
Animals may be taught to starve themselves to death. Experiments were performed with a fish, placed in a tank with a glass plate separating it from its food, so that every time it swam towards the food it bumped its nose. After many trials, it stopped trying to obtain the food even when the glass plate was removed. This behavior is analogous to that of the people who were seeking jobs during the depression, only to be turned down time after time. Then, when jobs became available, they were afraid to ask for them. In this sense, frustration reduces action and pecking order. Many experiments show that children’s position in the classroom or pecking order may be changed by the activities of the teacher.