Animals like knowing that something good is coming. Think about how excited children get when they know a reward is coming–the kid squirming in his chair 5 minutes before the final school bell rings or the anxious child 2 days before Christmas. Expectations and anticipation can make rewards even more exciting than they might be […]
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What’s the best way to train an animal? What about the best way to teach a human to train an animal? How can we use the science of behavior and learning to develop better training practices? In this section you’ll find lots of articles and information about the science of animal training, research that has been done on animal learning and behavior, and information about teaching people.
What is Stimulus Control?
Well established cues are under what is called stimulus control. The stimulus (cue) increases the chance that the behavior will occur because the animal has been reinforced for performing the behavior in the presence of the cue. But what does it really mean for a behavior to be under good stimulus control? Properties of cues […]
An Introduction to Reinforcement
We’ve been talking about different forms of negative reinforcement in class. So, I thought this might be a good week to talk about positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and different types of behavioral responses associated with negative reinforcement. (more…)
Scientific Accuracy
National Geodetic Survey officials say the Four Corners marker showing the intersection of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah is about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) west of where it should be, the Deseret News reported. The only place in the United States where four state boundaries come together was first surveyed by the government in […]
What’s a good reinforcer for an elephant?
Regarding finding valuable reinforcers: “One keeper I met learned that an elephant will perform for a single miniature marshmallow.” This is from Temple Grandin’s latest book, Animals Make Us Human. (I also blogged recently about her discussions on introducing scary objects and stereotypical behaviors.) I find many people object to adding a clicker to their training […]
What makes something scary?
Some horses are afraid of everything and every horse seems to be afraid of at least something! Plastic bags on the ground, a rain jacket or poncho, leaves blowing in the wind, water bottles, tarps, umbrellas, bridges, a new jump in the arena, his own shadow….the list could go on forever! This can be extremely […]