Rote Behavior and the Human Mind

Were my eyes deceiving me or did I actually see a man get out of his convertible with the top down and press his automatic key to lock it? What was he thinking? He wasn't. It was an understandable conditioned reaction.

Many of our behaviors and reactions are rote behavior'"involuntary responses caused by a certain stimulus indoctrinated in us with our own natural rules. Most of us have a typical reflex reaction that causes us to blink our eyes before that dreaded puff of air from an eye exam. During a power outage, we tend to still turn on the lights, knowing full well that it won't work.
How about the natural female reflex of grabbing for lipstick the instant a meal is over, in hopes of refreshing? (or is that just me?)

We give credit to Pavlov and his dog's saliva for the concept of classical conditioning. However, another acknowledgment for this study can go to a psychologist named Edwin Twitmeyer. (1873-1943) According to the Journal of Experimental Psychology, his thesis was called, "A Study of The Knee Jerk." It encapsulated his interesting findings about the knee-jerk reaction. This was done by using a small hammer that would use to strike a person's patellar tendon. He sounded a bell beforehand, as a warning. One day, he accidentally hit the bell and the hammer did not drop, but the person's knee jerked anyway. It proved the point of involuntary trained auditory reaction.

So, the explanation for our rote conditioned behavior began innocently in a lab by a man named Twitmeyer, a bell and a hammer. What an interesting setting and tools to prove the point of rote behavior. Essentially, we're all human.

Classical conditioning can also result in a complete role reversal. My mother's dog has trained her. She has been disciplined to give the dog a treat every time she walks past the bag of yummy treats. Her dog barks incessantly until my mother relents. Would Pavlov have defined this as "deviant canine conditioning?"

Sometimes, the words we use can become words of habit. How about the rote prayers to bless our food? God is great. God is good -- . It's so ingrained in us that sometimes we may not what we're really saying. When my sister first started dating a certain man who he invited her for dinner to meet his family. His family had the great gift of being able to pray "off the cuff" in their own words. They asked my sister if she would say the blessing. She had been indoctrinated with the easy, rote, but effective blessing, "Come Lord Jesus, our guest to be -- "

But on this special day, she decided to try her own words of gratefulness. She was doing a fine job -- until she was approaching the end and that elusive word, "Amen" escaped her. She frantically searched for a way to bring it to the forefront to bring it to a solid end. So, in the only way that Elvis Presley could say best, she closed with, "and so thank you very much."
She married this man and they laughed about it for years. Habits can have a way of backfiring. But for the price of humor, this one was okay. I'm suspecting that God was probably laughing, too.

Now, let me just get this one over with and admit to a compulsive habit that formed in my childhood. It has continued to this day into my mature (?) adulthood. I love to devour the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms, excluding the cereal altogether. Those green clovers and purple hearts are just too enticing to resist. There, I said it. My boys used to know who to accuse when they would try to pour a colorful bowl of Lucky Charms and only plain cereal would fall out of the box.

We can laugh at our behaviors that are rote and compulsively conditioned. But I suspect that Twitmeyer and Pavlov could never scientifically evaluate the complex matters of the heart -- nor should they have tried. There is no kind of science that could explain love. The most beautiful words that should be habit-forming and rote, but are never said enough are, "I love you."
And the conditioned gut response from the heart and soul: "I love you, too." Ahh -- the most enchanting words in any language that makes everything all right!