Final Deck Flashcards
Define animal training
The process of making desired behaviors more likely to occur and undesired behaviors less likely to occur
Define Classical conditioning
Pavlov
Reflex training (dog and bell)
Works with stimulus and response
Passive choice unconscious decision
Define operant conditioning
Behavior is determined by experience
Active choice
What is an unconditioned reinforcer
Anything an animal finds inherently rewarding
You know something is a reinforcer when it makes a behavior more likely to occur
What is an unconditioned punisher
Anything the animal finds inherently punishing
You know it’s punishing when it makes a behavior less likely to occur
What is a conditioned reinforcer
Any stimulus that becomes reinforcing through association with a primary reinforcer
What is a conditioned stimulus that pinpoints the precise moment of a desired response
The bridge
Give three examples of primary reinforcers
Food
Water
Shelter
What is a trained cue
A signal which will elicit a specific behavior or reflex as a result of a learned association
How do you know an animal understands a cue
Behavior occurs only when the SD is present.
What are the four types of Intermittent reinforcement schedules
- Fixed Interval
- Fixed Ratio
- Variable Interval
- Variable Ratio
Differentiate between a time out and an LRS
LRS- no response followed by the opportunity to earn more reinforcement
Time out- Removes the opportunity to earn more reinforcement in a set time period
What is differential reinforcement
Using different reinforcement (magnitude, type, value) to mark desired behaviors
Adjusting reinforcement based on animals performance of behavior.
What is DRO
Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior
Decrease occurrence of one behavior by reinforcing the occurrence of other behaviors (not necessarily incompatible, just less likely)
What is DRI
Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior
Decrease occurrence of one behavior by reinforcing the occurrence of another behavior that cannot occur at the same time as the undesired behavior
What is DRL
Differential Reinforcement of Low Intensity Behavior
Decrease high activity/sensitized behavior by reinforcing low activity/calm behaviors
Do fixed or variable patterns create a more stable response rate
Variable
Define habituation
Habituation is the waning of a response as a result of repeated stimulation which is not followed by any kind of reinforcement
When seeing a stimulus has no punishing or reinforcing value, the stimulus is driven a neutral
Define dishabituation
Recovery of the habituated response as a result of strong extraneous stimulus
(animal is driven towards a punishing or reinforcing value away from a previously neutral response)
What is an innovation session
Reinforce the animal for doing anything new.
What is the model/rival technique
Developed by Irene Pepperberg, was used to train Alex the parrot for complex tasks (a human acted as the model with Alex as the rival)
Can be multiple, passive, or active
What is a motivating operation
Antecedent that alters the effectiveness of reinforcement and rates of responses that have produced that reinforcer previously
How does trust relate to training
Set rules of the game and follow predictably
Approximations are consistent with rules previously set
How do we provide control
Consistency in training game rules and ensuring animals are an operant
How do we provide choice
Give the animal the choice to participate or not
Are errors necessary to learn
If there is error, it is always the trainer’s fault and not the animal. And it is not necessary for learning to occur.
What are some reasons for aggression
Reactive response to a situation
Natural predatory response
Innate, hormonal, hierarchal
Frustration induced, stressors
What are some precursors to aggression
Body posture, hair, eyes, vocalizations
Self protection- submissive displays and bite inhibition
Why might a trainer ignore precursors to aggression
Doesn’t seem serious enough
Doesn’t recognize them
Effects of ignoring precursors- animals stops giving them, quick to aggression without signs
How to deal with aggression
Stay calm, remove from situation
Evaluate what is reinforcing and instigating aggression and remove
Remove opportunities to repeat aggression
Listen to precursors
Put aggressive behavior on cue/incompatible
What is a keep going signal
Any signal that specifically indicated an animal that it has done well but shouldn’t stop or return to station. Useful for long duration behaviors. Typically repeated cue or separate bridge.
What is an end of session signal
Cue that signals a training session has ended. Can indicate when an animal is in session versus not.
May cause aggression or punish an animal who does not want to end session.
How to train when the dominant group animal prevents subordinates from training
Widely-spaced stations & multiple trainers
Distance reduces chance of
dominant animal leaving station
Reinforce dominant animal for
allowing subordinate animal to
take food
Gradually move stations closer
What should you keep in mind as a single trainer training a whole group of animals
Clear standards of when an animal is working vs not
Fair opportunities provided to all individuals
Opportunities for reinforcement in all scenarios
True or False: Not participating when asked is a behavior
True
What are some reasons to train in groups
Reduce aggression, manage the group. For shows and outreach, ability to separate individuals from the ground and work with/around other animals. Also medical and husbandry.
In what circumstances can animals housed in a group be trained
while within/group
worked individually
temporarily separated for shifting, crating
fully separated, removed from exhibit entirely
What are some conflicts that may occur when training voluntary separation of an individual from a group
Animals don’t want to stay behind
Animal doesn’t want to leave group
Animal doesn’t want to return to the cage
How would you go about training voluntary temporary separation
Train temporary separation within enclosure with stations or crates. Reinforce both. Approximate leaving. Should be just as reinforcing to stay as it is to leave.
Define the Clever Hans effect aka the Observer-expectancy effect
You know the answer and unintentionally cue the animal
How do you fix the observer-expectancy effect
Make your test double blind
Ensure that person working animal does not know the right answer
Or remove all people
T or F: Depending on how an animal has been reinforced, they may learn to answer differently
True. Example: Dogs behave differently in response to attentional state of the owner
If a pigeon was tasked with choosing a matching color, and were either continuously reinforced or intermittently reinforced, which reinforcement schedule would result in the pigeons being the most discriminative between shades of blue.
Continuous- pigeons reported shades of blue were different
Intermittent- pigeons were categorical and reported all shades of blue were the same
Define the Go-No Go technique
Take action when perceive stimuli, do nothing if not
T or F: You can achieve training goals without the animal perceiving you/needing a relationship with you
True
Define semi-protected contact
Training with partial barriers, but animal still has access to trainer
What are some cons to being free contact with elephants
Dangerous due to large size, hormonal changes, males musth, and females with their young
What were the traditional training techniques for elephants
Using an elephant hook (ankus) to direct or cue the elephant using negative reinforcement/positive punishment. Elephant moves away from the pressure.
What are the steps of target training
Desensitize target
Touch target to animal, bridge, and feed. Hold target close. When animal moves into the target, bridge and feed. Approximate the distance. Build follow.
What were the results of working semi/protected contact with elephants
Ability to work safely
Functional with staff turnover
Improved public views
Change in industry philosophy
Decreased aggression
Costly
Less control group behavior
Define sensitization
Increase of response to stimulus due to increase neurological response. Created by novelty effect or experience driving value away from neutral.
What is extinction
When reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior is discontinued.
T or F: Extinction and forgetting a behavior are the same thing
False. Forgetting is a decline in conditioned response due to lack of use or prolonged absence of experience. Extinction is a decline in conditioned response due to lack of reinforcement
What is an extinction burst
Increase in frequency, intensity and/or variability of response. With continued lack of reinforcement, response declines. With occasional reinforcement, can strengthen behavior
Extinction will be more robust with
Increased experience/ repetition
Exposure over time (spaced out vs all at once)
Multiple context vs context
Will a continuous or intermittent reinforcement schedule cause extinction to occur more quickly
Continuous. Also causes more frustration.
What is the overtraining extinction effect
More training with continuous reinforcement makes behavior less resistant to extinction
What is the partial reinforcement extinction effect
Training with intermittent reinforcement makes behavior more resistant to extinction.
Why does the intermittent reinforcement schedule cause less frustration in an animal when extinguishing a behavior
Intermittent schedule trains approximations to accept frustration
The animals learning to respond even when they expect not to be reinforced
Fill in the blank:
Temporal ‘breaks’ between extinction and re-cueing behavior lead to an ___________ in offering
behavior
increase
T or F: Extinction is highly context specific
True. Context clarifies significance of a stimulus when experience
mixed (reinforced or extinction)
Define restoration
Return to extinction by re-creating context cues during extinction
Define reinstatement
Re-exposure to the US creates an increase in behavior
Relies on ‘chance’ exposure and reinforcing experience
Define resurgence
Extinction of another response leads to increase in extinct behavior
▪ Train behavior A, then extinguish
▪ Train behavior B, then extinguish
▪ See increase in offering behavior A
BUT extinction of multiple stimuli increases strength for both
Differentiate between habituation and counter-conditioning
Habituation is a passive,
experiential process
Counter-conditioning is an
active, reinforcement process
T or F: Habituation is neurologically based
True
Define Sensory adaptation
Decrease in physiological
response due to sense organ
temporary failure
-Generalized to any stimulus
impacting that sense organ
-Example: Temporary threshold
changes to hearing
Name some factors that affect the speed of habituation
Frequency of exposure
Duration of exposure
Excitatory condition
Strength of stimulus
Attention
Associations with
stimulus: Prior, Current
Define spontaneous recovery
Return of response level
to baseline levels
produced by a period of
rest after habituation or
sensitization
Will more frequent exposure to
the stimulus result in faster or slower habituation
Faster habituation, but shorter retention (short term)
Define dishabituation
Recovery of the habituated
response as result of strong
extraneous stimulus
Give some examples of tactile training
Reinforce animal
maintaining a body position
and allowing physical
manipulation of body
Goal behavior specific to
species
Generalize to allow anyone
to touch (ie vet staff)
Layout/positions
Modelling technique
What is a discrete cue
Stimulus presented for limited times with clear beginning/end
Salient to animal
