Let’s examine the logic for a moment: An allergy is simply the immune system expressing itself against an allergen – in this case the cats fur. These same Fat Cats were once good citizens who grew up in good homes, went to good Universities (where some say they learned how to cheat), and were Pillars of the Community.
Skinner’s construct of instrumental learning is contrasted with what Nobel Prize winning biologist Konrad Lorenz termed “fixed action patterns,” or reflexive, impulsive, or instinctive behaviors. These behaviors were said by Skinner and others to exist outside the parameters of operant conditioning but were considered essential to a comprehensive analysis of behavior.
For cats, life in close proximity with humans (and other animals kept by humans as pets) amounts to a “symbiotic social adaptation” which has developed over thousands of years. The sort of social relationship cats have with their human keepers is hard to map onto more generalized wild cat behavior, but it is certain that the cat thinks of humans differently than it does other cats (i.e.
The family brought Tiger home, but hadn’t prepared their house for him. When he saw their dog, he bolted, found a dark place and hid. His new owner searched the house but couldn’t find him. That night he came out of his hiding place and found an open window with a torn screen…. His would-be owner knew there were predators in the area.
