Year read: 2016
How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
(See my list of books I've read, for more.)Go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
Positive reinforcers and negative reinforcers. Below is an example:
- Negative reinforcer – Ringing telephone silences the bell.
- Positive reinforcer – Brings us a human voice.
8 Methods
- Shoot the animal – remove the problem permanently (e.g., divorce)
- Punishment
- Negative reinforcer – removing something unpleasant when a desired behavior occurs
- Extinction – behavior leaves by itself
- Train an incompatible behavior
- Put the behavior on cue (p 127)
- Share the absence – reinforce everything that is not the undesired behavior
- Change the motivation
Reward/praise needs to be delivered instantly immediately the following task.
Focus on improving one behavior at a time 2 or more result in failure across the board.
As a trainer don’t throw a fit if your subject does not listen – continue to work at it with patience.
Something ignoring works.
Training an animal to perform bad habits on cue them never giving the cue will stop bad habits.
Try to work in a reward for good behavior (don’t reward bad behavior). Easier said than done. Carry rewards (e.g., treats) with you always to give immediately following good behavior. Seconds matter. Animals will tie the treat to the last thing they did.
Bribery may be incentivizing bad habits. Approach bribery with caution.
Reinforcements/rewards need to be as small as possible. You don’t want it to affect the animal’s appetite.
Stop on a good response when training. Don’t push your luck.
Break complex habits into small steps. Learn each step independently then combine. Layering effect by building upon each successfully learned step.
Quotes
- “Often when we seem to show no progress in a skill, no matter how much we practice, it is because we are trying to improve two or more things at once.” – Karen Pryor
- “Knowing how to get stimulus control without resorting to uproar and coercion makes life a lot easier for everyone.” – Karen Pryor
Go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.