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1 Online Training for Perfect Start™ Certification Program from Invisible Fence® Created by Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 303-932-9095 phone [email protected] Instructors: Suzanne Hetts, Ph.D., CAAB, CVJ Dan Estep, Ph.D., CAAB COURSE NOTES FOR Perfect Start™ Online Training Session Three Animal Learning Part One Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 2 GLOSSARY Conditioned punisher – a stimulus that signals the onset of a positive punisher. It should be able to mark the unwanted behavior just as a conditioned positive reinforcer does. The warning tone in the Invisible Fence® system is example of a conditioned punisher. Continuous reinforcement – each correct response is reinforced Extinction - Withholding or removal of positive reinforcement for a previously reinforced behavior. Extinction can also refer to the loss of the association between a conditioned and unconditioned stimulus (tone no longer predicts shock, clicker no longer predicts a treat) Intermittent reinforcement – only some correct responses are reinforced, on a schedule the animal cannot predict. There are several different patterns, or schedules, for the delivery of intermittent reinforcement. Learning - A process by which a relatively permanent change in behavior is produced as a result of specific experiences. Learning can’t be observed directly, only its effects on behavior. You must see a change in behavior (performance) to infer that learning has occurred. Physical injury, maturation and fatigue can all produce changes in behavior as a result of experience but they are not learning. Latent learning – from being exposed to a particular situation without any apparent benefit (no reward or punishment), an animal is then able to use this experience later in a beneficial way. The animal learned something from the exposure, but the learning wasn’t expressed until the benefit was made available. Habituation - A decline in a response as a result of the repeated presentation of a stimulus. Example - A dog in a cage at an animal shelter initially jumps or cowers when he hears unfamiliar sounds. After several hours or days in the cage, he no longer jumps up or cowers when he hears the noises. This process allows animals to actively ignore things in the environment that aren’t important. Motivation - all external and internal factors that influences the likelihood an animal will engage in a particular behavior. Premack Principle – any high probability behavior can be used to reinforce a low probability behavior. Everyday activities a dog enjoys can be used to reinforce a behavior you are trying to teach. An example would be rewarding a dog for coming when called by releasing him to go play in the park. Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 3 Primary (unconditioned) reinforcer – something the animal naturally enjoys (without any conditioning) and will work to obtain. Examples include food, water, sex, and in some animals, the opportunities to explore new areas or things, opportunities to play, and social contact with others. Sensitization - The opposite of habituation, an increase in a response as a result of repeated exposures. A dog that showed shaking only to very bad thunderstorms, now shows fear and shaking to even very mild thunderstorms after several experiences with them. Sensitization and habituation are the simplest forms of learning. No new behavior is learned nor does the animal learn new associations. A behavior increases or decreases as a result of repeated exposure. Animals generally habituate to things that aren’t important and sensitize to things that may be harmful or important to survival. Classical or Respondent Conditioning - Stimulus substitution learning, where a new stimulus comes to elicit an automatic response. Example - A strong clap of thunder (unconditioned stimulus) produces a fearful startle response in a dog (unconditioned response). After experiencing a number of storms where the smell of rain preceded the thunderclaps, now the smell of rain by itself (conditioned stimulus) with no thunder, produces the startle response (conditioned response). The dog has learned to associate rain with thunderclaps and now rain by itself produces fearful behavior. The dog’s response and the consequences of that response have no effect on the learning. Classical conditioning is most often seen in very emotional behaviors such as fears and aggression. Operant or Instrumental Learning – Response-consequence learning. The animal learns a relationship between its behavior and the consequences of that behavior. The consequences can be pleasant or unpleasant. Example - A dog that learns to bark or ‘speak’ on command to get a food treat. The word “speak” is the antecedent or cue for the behavior, barking is the response, and the treat is the consequence. After repeated trials, Rover learns a treat follows when he barks after he hears the word “speak”, but no treat follows when he barks at other times. Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 4 OPERANT CONDITIONING Operant conditioning, also known as instrumental or Skinnerian conditioning, is based on the principle that the consequences of animal’s behavior will influence its frequency. This is known as Thorndike’s Law of Effect, which says behavior that results in pleasant outcomes will be repeated, and that which results in unpleasant consequences will decrease in frequency. The outcomes are positive and negative reinforcement, and positive and negative punishment. These terms are illustrated in the following table. Consequence (What Follows the Behavior) An enjoyable, “good” thing Add It, Present It, Give It (Positive) Positive Reinforcement (R+) Behavior Increases Example: Dog sits, he receives a food treat Remove It, Withhold It, Take It Away (Negative) Negative Punishment (P-) Behavior Decreases Person stops petting a dog when the dog jumps on her An unpleasant, “bad” thing Positive Punishment (P+) Behavior Decreases When he barks, a dog receives a spray of citronella from an anti-bark collar Negative Reinforcement (R-) Behavior Increases Example: A person backs away from a fearful dog who is growling. What To Use For Positive Primary Reinforcement Positive reinforcement is anything an animal will work to obtain. For most dogs, primary reinforcers – things dogs inherently like and will try to acquire for themselves are food, toys (or at least the opportunity to play) and petting. Also consider the use of so-called ‘life rewards’, a term coined by Dr. Ian Dunbar. Examples include the opportunity to chase a squirrel, go for a walk in the park, get on the bed and cuddle. The technical term for this is the Premack Principle. It means that a behavior that is highly likely to occur can be used to reinforce one that is much less likely. Use the Motivational Pyramid to help clients identify what things in life are important to their pets and then use these things to reinforce behavior. Food As A Reinforcer. Tidbits should be small, very palatable, soft and easy to swallow without much chewing, and be a mixture of several types of food the pet doesn’t receive outside of training. Toys As Reinforcers. As already described, if a toy is used to reinforce good behavior, the pet cannot have free access to this toy. Contrary to popular belief, tug toys make great reinforcers. Research has shown that playing tug of war is not correlated with the development of aggression problems. Two main rules are that the dog’s teeth must never touch skin during the game, and that the dog will release the toy when requested. For some dogs, it may be better to delay tug until a release word is learned. Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 5 Petting As A Reinforcer. Most pets and many cats enjoy petting, however its value as a reinforcer is often diminished because most everyone tends to pet and touch their pets all the time. Since this is a resource that is usually impractical to control access to, its best use is probably as an additional reinforcement, rather than the sole reinforcer. Vary The Reinforcer. A particular reinforcer will remain more motivating if it isn’t given every time. If a small piece of cheese is the only thing an owner uses for reinforcement, the pet is going to tire of cheese pretty quickly. Owners should vary their reinforcers by using a mixture of food, or a selection of toys. The ‘Eager To Please’ Belief This is an anthropomorphic description of dogs for whom social reinforcements and punishments are very important. ‘Eager to please’ could either mean that petting, praise and attention are very strong inducements, or that verbal discipline and threatening body postures are very unpleasant consequences. Criteria for Effective Positive Punishment 1. Must be immediate – the aversive stimulus must occur within a few seconds of the behavior. Punishment “after the fact” is ineffective and unfair to the animal. Punishment delivered at the beginning of the unwanted behavior is more effective. 2. Must be consistent – be delivered after every occurrence of the target behavior. Contrary to intermittent reinforcement, intermittent punishment is not a tool for effective learning. 3. Must be of appropriate intensity – should be sufficiently unpleasant to suppress the behavior within a few trials. If it does not, then by definition, the aversive event is not punishing. The minimum intensity required to suppress the behavior should be used, which is difficult to determine ahead of time. Weak “punishers” may not be perceived as punishment. Punishers that are too strong create fear which interferes with learning 4. Must “turn off” – the aversive event must terminate when the animal’s behavior stops and the animal must know what behavior will “turn it off” 5. Remote punishment is usually advantageous over interactive – the aversive event should not come from the owner but is instead activated by the dog’s behavior 6. Best if provide alternative response which can be reinforced – suppressing a highly motivated behavior creates a ‘behavioral vacuum’ that animal will fill with his own choice if another is not provided. Reinforce the dog for the behavior you want him to do instead. For example if you choose to positively punish jumping up, the dog should be reinforced for sitting to greet people. Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 6 Classical Conditioning Classical conditioning, also known as respondent conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning, is the process by which an animal learns an association between two events. One stimulus (the CS, conditioned stimulus) predicts the occurrence of the other (the UCS, unconditioned stimulus. The CS can then elicit the same, or similar response as the UCS. Classical conditioning is not dependent on the animal’s behavior. In other words, the association between events occurs regardless of what the animal is doing. However, the UCS and the CS do elicit a response. Examples are in the following table. The response elicited by the UCS, and after training (conditioning), the response elicited by the CS, is typically involuntary. In Pavlov’s classic example, the food (the UCS) and then the bell and the light (the CSs) elicited salivation (the UCR then the CR), an involuntary reflex. Conditioned Stimulus Doorbell Ride in the car Wind Leash Can opener Tone Unconditioned Stimulus Arrival of visitors Veterinary visit Thunder Walk Food Shock Response Greeting, fear, threat Fear Fear Excitement Salivation Avoidance Animals learn a significant amount about their environment through classical conditioning. In many situations, classical and operant conditioning occur simultaneously. For example dogs learn what sequence of events predicts a walk and will approach the door in anticipation. Being near the door is then reinforced with a walk. Operant Counter Conditioning Counter conditioning can be based on either operant or classical conditioning. Operant counter conditioning is a technique whereby a particular cue comes to elicit a behavior that is “counter to”, or incompatible with the unwanted behavior. For example, for many untrained dogs, a visitor entering the house is a cue for, or elicits, jumping up. Successful counter conditioning would result in the visitor’s appearance eliciting an automatic “sit” instead. Classical Counter Conditioning This type of counter conditioning is not based on eliciting a specific behavior from the animal. Classical counter conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus (CS) predicts an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that is “counter to” the previously conditioned one. Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 7 For example, a particular sound might predict pain and unpleasantness. Classical counter conditioning would be accomplished when instead, sound predicts something pleasant. Classical counter conditioning can successfully change emotional reactions. Classical and Operant Conditioning and their Effect on Voluntary and Involuntary Behaviors Emotions can influence other voluntary behaviors. Anxiety and other emotions can result in poor, or no performance of previously conditioned voluntary behaviors. Address Emotional States First Because emotional states affect behavior it is often necessary to modify the emotional state before we can influence a voluntary behavior. When we conduct an in-home consultation we are often met by an aggressive, frightened or even an unruly dog. These dogs may be shying away from us, barking and growling at us, or jumping at us. In most situations, the first thing we do is to toss treats on the floor while otherwise ignoring the dog. Rather than reinforcing any of those behaviors, instead this functions to change the dog’s emotional state which in turn changes the motivation for the unwanted behavior. Can We Reinforce Fear and Other Emotional States? Of all the myths and misconceptions that have surrounded dog behavior and training for a very long time, perhaps the most persistent is the one that claims it is possible to reinforce an animal’s fear by paying attention to him or trying to reassure him. Behavioral scientists have long known that it is difficult to influence emotional states and involuntary behaviors using rewards and punishments. Ever tried to influence your heart rate or other physiological parameter using biofeedback? Not easy to learn, with the cognitive abilities of people that animals don’t share. So, if your dog is afraid of say thunder, and you hold your pet and calmly stroke her to help her relax and calm down do you think her fearful behavior is likely to increase? That’s what reinforcement does - increase the frequency of behaviors it follows. So if reassurance rewards fearful behavior, then it also follows that your pet is becoming more afraid as a result. It’s the emotion of fear that is expressed with observable behaviors. If your pet’s feelings of being afraid don’t intensify, then neither will her fearful behaviors. Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 8 There seems to be a persistent belief that it is possible to reward fearful behaviors without rewarding the emotion of fear. This may be true in people. We all know individuals with a “martyr” mentality who will act fearful and helpless just to get attention and have others take care of them. This doesn’t seem to be true for animals. They don’t pretend. If they don’t feel afraid, they don’t act afraid. When their emotional state changes, so do their behaviors. Behavioral researchers back in the 1940s, conditioned rats to jump to the other side of their enclosure in order to avoid the shock that followed a buzzer. In the next phase of training, the researchers changed the sequence so that cheese followed the buzzer and the shock was discontinued. Over multiple experiences with cheese follows buzzer, even as the rats attempted to jump to the other side, do you think the rats became more fearful and increased their jumping behavior? That’s what would happen if you believe the jumping behavior (and therefore the fear) was reinforced by the cheese. Just the opposite occurred. The rats’ fear decreased, the jumping stopped and they began to eat the cheese. This is an example of classical conditioning changing behavior by changing emotional state rather than operant conditioning rewarding fear. REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY Burch, M.R. & Bailey, J.S. How Dogs Learn. New York: Howell Book House. Donaldson, J., 1998. Dogs Are From Neptune. Montreal, Canada: Lasar Multimedia Productions. Hetts, S. Pet Behavior Protocols. What to Say, What to Do, When to Refer. 1999. Lakewood, CO: American Animal Hospital Association Press, pp. 27-44. Miklosi, A. 2007. Dog Behaviour, Evolution and Cognition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Pryor, K., 1984. Don’t Shoot the Dog. New York, NY: Bantam Books. Schwartz, B., and S. J. Robbins. 1995. Psychology of Learning and Behavior. New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. 9 Reid, P.J. 1996. Excel-erated Learning. Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn and How Best To Teach Them. Oakland, CA: James and Kenneth Publ. Reid, P.J. 2007. Learning in dogs. In Jensen, P. (Ed.) The Behavioural Biology of Dogs. Cambridge, MA: CAB International, Pp. 120-144. Wright, J.C., Reid, P.J. and Rozier, Z. 2005. Treatment of emotional distress and disorders-non-pharmacologic methods. In McMillan, F.D. Ed. Mental Health and Well-Being in Animals. Ames, IA: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 145158. To download the Chapter Click HERE Copyright 2011,2012 Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used by permission for Perfect Start™ Certification Program. May not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part outside of these parameters without express permission from Animal Behavior Associates, Inc.