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Learning Theory — In a Nutshell
Best Friends Animal Society Dog Trainers
Learning Theory
The study of how a
species learns
The Two Types of Behavior
• Overt Behavior = Behavior that we can observe,
measure, and assess.
• Covert Behavior = Internal behaviors that we
cannot see or assess; thoughts, feelings,
motivations, intentions.
• Constructs = Assumptions about covert behaviors.
Methods of Learning
Classical Conditioning
• Pavlov’s theory: Learned
association between two
events.
•Can influence a dog’s
emotions.
• Involuntary
Operant Conditioning
• Consequence drives behavior
• Behavior that is rewarded
increases, behavior that is
punished decreases
• Voluntary
Classical conditioning creates habits via
emotional responses.
Operant conditioning creates purposeful
behavior via mental engagement and practice.
Classical Conditioning
• involves learning to associate an
unconditioned stimulus that already brings
about a particular response (i.e. a reflex) with
a new (conditioned) stimulus, so that the new
stimulus brings about the same response.
Classical Conditioning
BEFORE LEARNING
Unconditioned
stimulus
Unconditioned
response
BEFORE LEARNING
Neutral
stimulus
No
response
Classical Conditioning
During Learning
with
Unconditioned
response
Classical Conditioning
After Learning
Conditioned
stimulus
Conditioned
response
Counterconditioning
▪
is the conditioning (training) of an unwanted
behavior or response to a stimulus into a
wanted behavior by associating (pairing) good
things with the stimulus
▪
Conditioning (training) an animal to display a
behavior that is counter to (incompatible
with) an unacceptable behavior in response to
a particular stimulus.
Desensitization
• to cause (someone or something)
to react less to or be less affected
by something
Desensitization-Flooding
Systematic Desensitization
• involves gradually exposing a dog to the
situation, without provoking the
unwanted reaction
The rules of Counterconditioning:
Counterconditioning
• Scary thing must predict wonderful thing
• Good thing must happen quickly
• Good thing should be something your dog is “crazy”
about only gets when the scary thing shows up
• Don’t ask for anything when scary thing shows up, just
want dog to notice scary thing
• Start with the scary thing far enough away
Operant Conditioning
“All we need to know in order to describe and
explain behavior is this: actions followed by
good outcomes are likely to recur, while
actions followed by bad outcomes are less
likely to recur.”
Skinner, 1953
Operant Conditioning
This type of learning is active
and voluntary; it depends on
the actions of the learner
Ask yourself: Do I want the behavior to continue?
In Operant Conditioning:
• Saying that something is
negative means something is
REMOVED.
Think MATH …
• Saying that something is
not positive
FEELINGS
means something is
ADDED.
Operant Conditioning Definitions
Positive refers to adding something.
Operant Conditioning Definitions
Negative refers to removing something.
Operant Conditioning
Reinforcement-whether positive or negative, causes
the behavior to be more likely to occur. (The
behavior increases.)
Punishment-whether positive or negative, causes
the behavior to be less likely to occur. (The
behavior decreases.)
Positive Reinforcement +R
• Adding something good
(behavior will increase)
Negative Punishment - P
• Removing something good
(behavior will decrease)
Negative Reinforcement - R
• Removing something
bad/aversive
(behavior will increase)
Relief from an aversive
Positive Punishment + P
• Adding something
bad/aversive
(behavior will decrease)
Operant Conditioning Terms-Recap
Positive reinforcement: + R
Something good is added.
Negative punishment: - P
Something good is subtracted.
Positive punishment: + P
Something bad is added.
Negative reinforcement: - R
Something bad is subtracted.
Change Unwanted Behavior
• What reinforces this
behavior ?
• Ignore or manage
• Train incompatible
behavior
• Reward the wanted
behavior
Why We Don’t Punish
Aversives:
– suppress behavior, they
don’t remove or address
underlying cause of
behavior.
– may have side effects,
including fear, frustration
and aggression.
Aversives are difficult to apply correctly. To be effective,
they must meet ALL of the following criteria:
•
Occur the moment the undesired behavior occurs
•
Be associated with the behavior, not the trainer
•
Be stronger than the reward of the undesired behavior
•
Be severe enough to stop the behavior almost immediately
•
The dog must have the opportunity to change his behavior
Discontinuing reinforcement leads to …
Extinction
… but can sometimes lead to
an extinction
BURST!
The Four Stages of Learning
•
•
•
•
Acquisition
Fluency
Generalization
Maintenance
If a dog doesn’t respond to a cue…
• Has the dog been
taught and rewarded
for learning a specific, consistent cue?
• Has the dog been rewarded enough times
to create a habit?
• Has the behavior been generalized to
different locations?
• Is the dog distracted by ( therefore
rewarded by) something else in the
environment?
Proofing a Behavior
• The dog does the behavior immediately upon getting the cue
• The dog does not offer the behavior without being cued
(doesn't "throw" the behavior at you during training sessions)
• The dog does not offer the behavior in response to some other cue
• The dog does not offer any other behavior in response to the cue
Proofing-Continued
Can your dog do the behavior:
With hand and voice cues?
With trainer in different positions?
For other people?
The three D’s: Distraction, Duration, Distance
With duration?
Can he hold the position longer?
For a few seconds?
A few minutes? Longer?
With distance?
Can you ask for the behavior from a few feet
away?
From 20 feet away?
From outside the run (with the dog inside)?
With distractions?
In other areas:
other rooms
other buildings
on a walk
in the car
with other people standing by
other people moving around,
other dogs still and moving,
With toys being played with,
other kinds of animals around
(horses, cats, lizards, squirrels)?
Keep your dog guessing!
Additional Resources:
“” by Pamela Reid
website: behavioreducationnetwork.com
behaviorists Suzanne He and Dan Estep
Questions?
Break and Travel Time
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