Examples of Operant Conditioning

Throughout Part 1 of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, there are examples of operant conditioning that happens in the ward. Operant conditioning can be seen either in a positive or negative way, particularly demonstrated by Nurse Ratched in the ward. Examples of this form include the use of the Nurse's schedule, as well as having Bromden shaved show that operant conditioning is present at the hospital ward. Every day at the ward, the nurse posts an organized, and concise schedule for the patients at the ward to follow. For Nurse Ratched, this is positive conditioning for her, as it demonstrates her organization and her execution of the day. It may work for her, but it makes the patients, especially Bromden, do not follow and hate the schedule that the nurse makes. The schedule, however, is important because it keeps the patients busy at the ward and the patients don't even know they are on schedule, despite its rules. In a way, the schedule is a positive conditioning for the nurse and a negative for the patients. Nurse Ratched plays a big role in the ward, especially when it comes to her patients. On certain days, she can get angry with them and one punishment was to shave them. One such incident was when Bromden makes fun of her large bottom, and she immediately asks her aides to shave as a punishment. Bromden's point of view of the shaving incident is seen as a negative, as it causes him to become paranoid and hallucinate the past events he experienced. As a positive conditioning, it shows that is how Nurse Ratched deals with patients when she is in a bad mood and when they push her buttons.