Author’s Note: Right now a great many people are trying to comply with their New Year’s resolutions. Many of them will rely on rewards of some sort to motivate themselves, never realizing that this is an extremely controversial practice and the subject of heated debate among psychologists. Should it be? Here’s my personal take:

After a recent auto accident, my doctor ordered me to have an MRI of my dystonic cervical spine (fancy term for my stiff, aching neck). I’ve had MRIs before, and I’m not a fan. I wouldn’t say I’m pathologically claustrophobic, but I don’t especially like enclosed spaces; and like many people with a mood disorder, I’m hypersensitive to intense noise.

The one bright note was that the imaging facility, to my surprise, was in a nearby Four Seasons Hotel. So that was all right—I like grand hotels, no matter what the occasion. As I walked from the parking garage to the lobby, I saw the oddest thing: an enormous statue of a bunny rabbit at the entrance to a secluded rose garden. It was Alice in Wonderland come to life—except that the rabbit wasn’t white, it was bright turquoise. Curiouser and curiouser.

Nobody else was around, and I felt a strong urge to go explore. But I was running late for the MRI, so I did the grown-up thing and went to my appointment. Reluctantly, I put on a gown and screwed in the ear plugs the technician handed me. He also gave me an escape button I could push “if absolutely necessary.”

As the coffin-like lid slid over my face and loud, bizarre spurts of noise began to assault my eardrums, my

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