Training Test 2 (training chapters 4 & 5) Flashcards
SDs should be:
- crisp and clear
- uniform
- free from superstition
- easily distinguished when possible
behavior is…
anything an animal does using muscles, glands, or electrical impulses
bridging stimulus
used to indicate the instant at which an animal successfully competes a desired approximation or behavior, or at anytime in which the desired topography is being emitted
when do you bridge?
at the peak of the behavior
4 properties of a bridge:
1) generalized secondary reinforcer
2) marks instant when desired topography is emitted
3) bridges gap between behavior and reinforcement
4)
considerations of bridging
1) bridging can be any stimulus an animal perceives, but must be conditioned (ex. tactile, audible, visual)
2) should be crisp, clear, and consistent (long bridges can capture other behaviors)
3) “early bridging” - used to maintain topography of a behavior
4) habituation (overexposed/overused)
LRS characteristics
- neutral response from trainer
- 3 seconds
- occurs in same place reinforcement would have occurred
- acts as an SD for calm behavior
- example of DRA and DRI
why/how does an LRS work?
they can be reinforced for it
when should the LRS begin?
once the animal is heads up in front of you (restart if they stop being heads up/leave)
Is the LRS punishment?
no
how and when do you maintain the LRS?
how: bridge and reinforce it
when: if an LRS is tolerated really well, if you have had to do many and they keep doing them well, if a rocky social pair does well on one together, etc.
what happens if we bridge and reinforce too many LRS responses?
- LRS game (like recall game)
- loses value
criteria
Def: principle/standard by which something may be judged of decided
- allows for multiple trainers ti work multiple animals without creating frustration or behavioral drift/deviation
group contingency
refers to a contingency whereby all members of a group must meet criteria in order for any member to receive reinforcement
continuous reinforcement is used to
strengthen or re-build behavior
variable ratio reinforcement is used to
maintain established behavior
balance of reinforcement
- skew reinforcement to behaviors that need heavier reinforcement
- less reinforcement to behaviors that don’t need it
what can we do to maintain a behavior or rebuild it when it begins to break down?
1) recognize breakdown early on and why it is
2) switch to continuous reinforcement
3) don’t over-ask
4) re-shape if necessary
5) safeguard against breakdown in foundation behavior
stationing criteria
- have a clear SD
- should be maintained
- “heads up” criteria
- stationing plans
target (noun)
prop that pinpoints a specific location for an animal to orient to or touch
target (verb)
process of stimulating an animal to touch a particular object
3 considerations of targeting
- targeting is a behavior
- not always nose/rostrum
- move body to target
foundation behaviors
set of behaviors that are imperative to the development and maintenance of other behaviors
foundation behavior examples
1) heads up
2) a to b
3) hold
4) follow
5) target
anthropomorphism downfalls
- think for the animal and get it wrong
- make excuses for their mistakes
shaping
process of selectively reinforcing responses that approximate the desired response to an increasingly greater degree
OR
developing new behavior by reinforcing successive approximations toward the terminal response
successive approximation
def: process of refining an animals behavior from a spontaneous initial behavior to the behavior which is planned by the trainer
successive approximations = small step towards a desired behavior
Pryor’s 10 laws of shaping:
1) raise criteria in small increments
2) train one criteria at a time
3) vary reinforcement before moving onto the next approximation
4) relax old criteria when introducing new criteria
5) plan ahead
6) don’t change trainers mid-stream
7) if a plan doesn’t work, change the plan
8) don’t stop a session gratuitously
9) regress when behavior deteriorates
10) end on a positive note
targeting
def: act of stimulating an animal to touch some part of their body to an object
ex: target pole used to create flip rotation on arial
molding
def: showing animal what to do through physical manipulation
ex: helping a dog sit by pushing their butt down
combining
def: asking 2 or more established behaviors to simultaneously shape a new behavior
ex: layback waka, sing and dance
capturing (scanning)
def: animal spontaneously/naturally offers target behavior and the trainer reinforces it
ex: vocals, BB signature whistle
observational learning
a naive animal is paired with an animal that knows the behavior in hopes that the naive animal mimics the behavior of the knowing animal
ex: BB learning to tumble by copying tug
fading
gradually changing a stimulus controlling an animals performance of another stimulus
OR
gradually removing prompts such as instructions or physical guidance
superstitious behavior
behavior which:
- results from misunderstanding
- results from the chance of inadvertent reinforcement of unwanted behavior which then comes under stimulus control
ex: singing during hydrations
antecedent arrangement
def: refers to the environmental conditions that have been set up to help encourage a target behavior
ex:
- location
- social structure
- tide
- habitat
- guest set-up
importance:
set the animal up for success
reinforcement arrangement
def: refers to where and when reinforcement is available
ex:
- tug flip reinforcement at other end of the lagoon from where the SD is presented so he keeps traveling forward
importance:
- behavior gravitates towards reinforcement
- immediacy of reinforcement
retroactive inhibition
new learning effects the retention of old learning
(retroactive = retention)
proactive inhibition
previous learning effects progress of new learning
(proactive = previous/progress)
positive transfer
learning is made easier by something previously learned
(opposite of proactive inhibition + helps skip a few steps in learning)
