Download Safety in the Zoological Industry - California Industrial Hygiene Council

20th Annual California Industrial
Hygiene Council
“Safety in the Zoological Industry”
San Diego Zoo Global
Gary Priest, 2010 ©
Animal Learning - Objectives

To understand basic principles of animal
training
METHODS
 To give you a tool box and several
valuable tools with different names and
uses
 To create an understanding of several
different techniques to accomplish this

Animal Behavior

What is behavior?

Why is behavior important?

Understanding behavior and how to
arrange the consequences (or) How
keepers can make the principles of
behavior work to their advantage.
Behavior modification has recently
become an important tool in zoos to:
Enhance keeper safety
 Facilitate routine maintenance
 Facilitate veterinary care
 Encourage cooperation in research
 Provide for shows and presentations
 Better provide for the animal’s
psychological well-being

The Core of Behavior:
FORM & FREQUENCY

At its root, all behaviors can be broken
down into two basic categories:
#1. What it looks like (The behavior’s
form or topography)
 #2. How often it is performed (The
frequency)
 Consequences change behavior!

The A,B,Cs of Animal Training

The Antecedent – the stimului that
triggers the behavior

The Behavior – what does it look like?
The topography or form & frequency

The Consequence – reinforcement
either positive or negative
CONDITIONING

In order to change behavior, trainers predict,
modify, and control the environment.

Simply put, conditioning is a change in the
form and frequency of a behavior due to the
influence of reinforcers or punishers in the
environment.

In nature, animals are being conditioned all
the time. The same rules of learning apply
regardless of the setting.
REINFORCEMENT
The strengthening of something by
adding to it.
 Anything that strengthens the
stimulus/response connection.
 Generally, anything that strengthens
learning.

Behavior is largely determined
by its consequence.

There are three possible consequences
to a given behavior:
– Positive (+)
– Negative (-)
– Neutral
Consequences
Positive consequences tend to increase
the frequency of the behavior they
follow.
 Negative consequences tend to
decrease the frequency of the behavior
they follow.

Behavioral Consequences &
Problem Solving
Trainers usually want to do one of two
things: They want to increase desirable
behaviors or they want to decrease
undesirable behaviors.
Because behavior is largely determined
by its consequences, controlling these
consequences is the key to controlling
almost all behavior.
What would be the behavioral
consequence of ignoring these stimuli?
Primary Reinforcer or
Unconditioned Reinforcer

Anything of intrinsic value to an
organism; examples are biological
needs for food, water, sex, and social
needs.
Conditioned Reinforcer or
Secondary Reinforcer

A conditioned reinforcer is a previously
neutral stimulus with no rewarding
properties. It becomes reinforcing
because of its association with a
primary reinforcer; it derives its
meaning as a result of its association
with basic unconditioned reinforcers.
Money is an example of a
conditioned reinforcer
$ MONEY $
On it’s own, money has no particular
intrinsic value. You can’t eat it or wear
it.
 It does have value through it’s
association with just about every
imaginable primary reinforcer.
 It is a secondary reinforcer.

Motivation / Satiation

MOTIVATION - The force that regulates
behavior because of drives, needs, or
desires and is directed towards goals
that will satisfy the need.

An organism’s behaviors are partly
determined by its own internal state.
The internal state of the carnivore causes
it to engage in hunting behaviors.
Motivation / Satiation

SATIATION - This has occurred when a
normally positive stimulus is repeatedly
offered until it loses its reinforcing
properties
After making a kill, a big cat may sleep up to 20
hours a day. It’s motivation has changed.
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
The primary tool used in progressive
animal training.
 Positive reinforcement is anything that
the animal wants.
 Reinforcement is relative. (Rain can be
a positive reinforcement to a duck and
an aversive stimulus to a cat).
 Know your animal!

What is an aversive stimulus?

An aversive is something that a subject
wants to avoid. It is noxious, painful,
or otherwise unpleasant.
NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

As we consider this topic, it is important
to realize that the term “negative
reinforcement” does not apply to the
“quality” of the consequence.

Here is why...
Escape Feels Good!

Negative reinforcement is what happens
the instant an aversive stimulus is
terminated as a result of a behavior.

When a negative reinforcement is used
properly, an escape response is
reinforced.
Negative Reinforcement at work in the
wild where the predator is the aversive
event. Escape feels good!
RELATIONSHIP & ATTITUDE
Progressive trainers work to develop
relationships with their animals.
 They see the animal’s good attitude as
a behavior that should be reinforced.
 The use of (+ R) promotes these
principles while the use of aversives
does not.

Some common examples
where (- R) has been used.
Using a water jet to move a primate
from one space into another.
 Netting a dolphin through a gate.
 Using a bit to train a horse to turn right
or left.
 Using a choke collar to train a dog to
heel.

The Bridging Stimulus is a
Conditioned Reinforcer

It is created by association with a
primary reinforcer. It can be a touch, a
word, or some other distinct sound.

The bridging stimulus “bridges” both
time and distance.
Some examples of different
kinds of bridging stimuli.
SHAPING

Shaping is possible because the
behavior of living things, from amoebas
to whales, is variable.

A significant chunk of an animal’s
behavioral repertoire is plastic and
through reinforcements can be molded.
SUCCESSIVE
APPROXIMATIONS

A stair-step process where behavior is
shaped to approach a desired form by
selectively reinforcing those behaviors
which lead towards the desired form.