How to use Applied Behavior Science to train any type of animal.
Do you want to master animal training or merely be a technician? To be a master, you need to understand the science of learning theory. I’ve put together a book that uses learning theory to teach learning theory. The first rule of good teaching, is make it fun.
For just a moment, stop and think about a time you were really afraid for your safety. What does that feel like? Are you one of those people who avoids scaring yourself, or do you go out of your way to read a scary book or watch a horror film? What allows us to tie fear and fun together in an emotional experience?
Most fear, however, is quite grim. It’s a gut level sense of terror. It’s hard to write about without sensing the oppression. For the animal, who has no way of knowing what we might have planned for it, fears can be very overwhelming.
READ MOREFearful experiences are critical events in the training of any animal, but especially in the training of a non-domestic animal. Fright speeds the learning of escape behaviors and converts the lesson into long term memory very rapidly. Something learned under stress is more likely to be retained, but unless you have prevented every possible evasion, what is likely to be learned is something you don’t want the animal to learn. We could train without fear in a perfect world, but on this planet, we will have to resign ourselves to constantly strive for a least fearful scenario.
Since we can only guess about the subjective emotions of an animal, we need to agree that “fear” refers to the activation of the defensive behavioral system that responds to perception of danger. We will never know what it actually feels like to an animal, but we can’t say they don’t experience it.
Fears can be divided into two general classes: learned and unlearned. Unlearned fear is naturally provoked even when the animal has had no prior experience with the stimulus. Unlearned fears arise from such things as their natural predators, erratic and unpredictable stimuli, and exposure to a novel place (especially one that is brightly lighted or elevated). Conditioned or learned fear is provoked by stimuli that have become associated with something aversive. Fear of whips or ropes is conditioned by pairing the object with a bad experience and is not innate to the animal. Conditioned fear stimuli provoke the same behaviors that innate fear stimuli provoke.
"Here’s Johnny!!"
--Jack Nicholson, The Shining (1980)
How do you recognize fear? It creates profound changes in the physiological condition of the animal. Defecation and liquidity of feces increase and blood pressure shows a reliable increase. Heart rate is less consistent than the hypertensive effects of fear stimuli. Both tachycardia (fast pulse) and bradycardia (slowed pulse) have been reported under various conditions, especially restraint. Animals snort, open their noses and eyes wide, and raise their heads. There is an associated loss in pain sensitivity. The animals’ body is going into survival mode.
To measure the fear, specific responses can be quantified such as fear-potentiated startle, freezing, head elevation, nose flaring, and snorting. With a heart rate monitor, tachycardia or bradycardia can be measured. Variability of the heart rate decreases with fear as the defense system locks the heart into maximum readiness. Fear can also be measured by disruption of normal behaviors, this measure is called suppression. Later in the book, you will see why you might want to measure fear responses.
COLLAPSEI've had horses for over 20 years and started using science based training methods (positive reinforecment/clicker training) over 10 years ago. I've read many books on the subject but this book filled a gap. It explains the terminology used by behaviorists and thanks to the Patricia Barlow-Irick's unique sense of humor the book is surprisingly easy to read.
The author starts with the neuro-chemical aspects of training. Epinephrine and norepinephrine (catecholamines) and cortisol (glucocorticoid) help the body to get ready to act on a threat but decrease the ability to learn. Barlow-Irick points out that behaviour learned under stress will be remembered well but usually it is not the behaviour the trainer wants. The dopamine system (responsible for the willingness to work for reward) and the opioid system (processing of sensory pleasure) are important in positive reinforcement training. Small treats fed quickly one after the other are more reinforcing than a few larger treats because they don't create the dopamine that fuels the seeking system.
In the chapter The Ethical Trainer the author warns about the dangers of escalating pressure. She cautions us to use her book to do the least harm. We need to find out what is important to us and who we want to be.
In the rest of the book she explains the laws of behaviour and how to employ them. Like Barlow-Irick tells at the beginning of the book you won't remember much after you read it the first time. But when you run into a problem while training your animal you go back to the book and discover more information. In time you will be able to retain the information and know how to use it.
Definitely 5 stars for How 2 Train A ____. A very informative book by an experienced and accomplished trainer and scientist.