The first chapter of the book describes the author, Laurence Slater's attempts to research and understand Skinner and his research. B. F. Skinner believed that people were a construct of their experiences and held no free will. To this end, he believed it is possible to use positive feedback to condition desired responses. As Slater found out as she began her research, there are numerous misconceptions about Skinner and his research. Many falsely believe that his famous air crib conditioning of his daughter drove her to commit suicide later in her life. After failing to track down the supposedly deceased daughter, Slater manages to find her sister. The sister is obviously guarded as she has undoubtedly been interviewed countless times about her dad and sister. She quickly tells Slater that her sister is currently living in England and that her dad loved both the kids unconditionally. Before Slater leaves she tells her to read Freedom and Dignity, a philosophical book by Skinner.
Chapter 2
This chapter is a retelling Milcram's shock experiment. It is told primary in a first person point of view as if the reader were the subject being tested for fallowing orders. It is very detail rich and covers all areas from before arriving at the testing center to the actual shocking of the test subject and the inability to refuse the orders of the authority figure. The retelling offers a different point of view from previous readings and is far more interesting as the reader is put in the position of the test subject. It forces the reader to try to figure out what he/she would have done in the same situation. After describing the experiment, the chapter continues to explain Slater's fallow up research and how she tracked down a previous test subject. The man she found was one of the minority that refused to continue administering the shocks, and even he did it because he feared it was becoming hazardous to his own health.
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