Thorndike
An American psychologist by the name of E.L Thorndike is said to be one of the first to use a form of operant conditioning. He used cats and a puzzle box. He had created a box that you could only escape from by pushing or stepping on a lever to open a door. Thorndike would put the cats in the box and monitor how long it took them to escape. The cats were put into the box multiple times and it was seen that the more times the cat was put into the box, the faster they escaped. Below is a video that shows how Thorndike's experiment worked.
Skinner
Another
American psychologist, B.F. Skinner, also used animals and operant
conditioning. Skinner came up with what is called the Skinner Box. He used
rats in his experiments with this box. The rats were placed in the box
and had to push a lever that then gave the rats food. The rats were not
shown how to push this lever to recieve food, but usually bumped into
the lever by accident. Once this first "accidental" recieval of food occurred, the rate at which they pushed to lever for food greatly
increased.
Below is a video that demonstrates how a Skinner Box works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXr8TGYwQ1U
Law of Effect
The
law of effect is demonstrated in operant conditioning. This law states
that when a response is followed by a desirable consequence the
probability of that response is increased, when a response is followed
by an undesirable consequence, the probability of that response is
decreased.
A journal article, Analyzing Thorndike's Law of Effect: The Question of Stimulus- Response Bonds, written by John A. Nevin of the University of New Hampshire, discusses the positive aspect of the Law of Effect.
http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jeab/articles/1999/jeab-72-03-0447.pdf
Reinforcement and Punishment
Reinforcement and Punishment
Before getting into how all this relates to training your pets, a few things need to be defined. Operant conditioning can shape and mold behaviors in two ways: through reinforcement and punishment. Reinforcement is something that increases the likelihood of a behavior, while punishment does the opposite, decreasing the likelihood. Using these concepts as a pet owner is very simple, but extremely effective.
Types of reinforcement
Types of reinforcement
There are two ways you can go about reinforcing a behavior: through positive reinforcement and through negative reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is defined as adding something to increase the likelihood of a behavior; negative reinforcement is when something is taken away, also to increase the likelihood of a behavior.
(Dod, Dog With Bone)
An example of positive reinforcement would be giving your dog a treat after he uses the bathroom outside. Negative reinforcement with animals is a little more uncommon. NR, by definition, is the removal of something bad or unpleasant to encourage a behavior--maybe letting your dog out of his cage after he stops barking.
Types of punishment
Punishments are grouped the same as reinforcements--positive and negative. Positive punishments add something to discourage a behavior; for example, yelling at your dog after he uses the bathroom inside. Negative punishments take away something to discourage a behavior; taking your dog's food away. The problem with punishment, of course, is that many punishments are inhumane. Beyond that, however, research has shown that punishment is less effective, which we'll get into later.
Lastly, there are a few different ways you can reinforce, in terms of how often you do so.
Continuously. Continuous reinforcement is exactly what it sounds like. You reward the animal every time they do what you want them to.
So which should you use?
Research has found that positive reinforcement seems to work best, particularly for animals. For example, a 2005 study by Hiby, Rooney, and Bradshaw found that punishment was correlated with disciplinary problems, while reinforcement was correlated with higher pet owner satisfaction.
Lastly, there are a few different ways you can reinforce, in terms of how often you do so.
(Hodan, Old Clock)
Continuously. Continuous reinforcement is exactly what it sounds like. You reward the animal every time they do what you want them to.
Intermittently. This entails rewarding your pet only sometimes. The different ways you can do this are called reinforcement schedules. Fixed ratio schedules are when you reward your pet after a certain number of responses; you give her a treat every third time she sits. Variable ratio is when you reward your pet randomly; after the second sit, then the fourth, then the seventh, for example. Fixed interval is when you reward your pet after a set amount of time; after thirty seconds of sitting. Finally, variable interval is when you reward your pet after random amounts of time (J. Golding, personal communication).
So which should you use?
Research has found that positive reinforcement seems to work best, particularly for animals. For example, a 2005 study by Hiby, Rooney, and Bradshaw found that punishment was correlated with disciplinary problems, while reinforcement was correlated with higher pet owner satisfaction.
Further research by Skinner (1957) found that variable ratio schedules are typically the most effective. When first training your pet, it's best to do so continuously; reward her every time she does what you want her to, so she'll learn quickly. But after she's learned the link between her behavior and the reward, start rewarding less frequently, and at random times. This makes it more likely that she'll sit every time you tell her to.
Lastly, some issues to keep in mind
Unfortunately, your pet won't immediately want to do what you'd like her to. Sometimes (especially at younger ages), she would much prefer to do something else. What if you want to teach her to sit, heel, or fetch, but all she wants to do is roll around in the dirt? There's a solution for that.
Lastly, some issues to keep in mind
Unfortunately, your pet won't immediately want to do what you'd like her to. Sometimes (especially at younger ages), she would much prefer to do something else. What if you want to teach her to sit, heel, or fetch, but all she wants to do is roll around in the dirt? There's a solution for that.
There is a concept in psychology called the Premack principle, named after psychologist David Premack. Basically, the principle says that more desirable (and probable) behaviors will reinforce behaviors that are less desirable (Domjan, 2009). It's often mentioned in regards to children or students. For example, a child is told he can play video games after he goes outside to play for a while. In this case, the kid probably doesn't want to go outside and play; he'd rather stay inside and play video games.
David Premack
(upenn.edu)
(upenn.edu)
Research has shown that with time in situations like these, the child will become more likely to go outside and play, because it was originally used as an incentive for playing video games.
The same goes for animals. Say you want to teach your dog to sit, but she wants to play fetch instead. Just do this: every time you successfully get her to sit, immediately throw whatever it is she's fetching. Continue doing this. She'll perceive the fetching as a reward for sitting--positive reinforcement.
Most importantly, stay patient!
It can be easy to get frustrated when you first start. It may seem like your pet simply isn't learning what you want him to. But keep at it, and stay consistent--eventually he'll learn. Animal training is very much a science rooted in proven psychological principles, so it's only a matter of time and effort.
Most importantly, stay patient!
It can be easy to get frustrated when you first start. It may seem like your pet simply isn't learning what you want him to. But keep at it, and stay consistent--eventually he'll learn. Animal training is very much a science rooted in proven psychological principles, so it's only a matter of time and effort.