Training Test 2 (training chapters 4 & 5)

Question 1

SDs should be:

Answer 1

• crisp and clear
• uniform
• free from superstition
• easily distinguished when possible

Question 2

behavior is…

Answer 2

anything an animal does using muscles, glands, or electrical impulses

Question 3

bridging stimulus

Answer 3

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

Question 4

when do you bridge?

Answer 4

at the peak of the behavior

Question 5

4 properties of a bridge:

Answer 5

1) generalized secondary reinforcer
2) marks instant when desired topography is emitted
3) bridges gap between behavior and reinforcement
4)

Question 6

considerations of bridging

Answer 6

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)

Question 7

LRS characteristics

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

why/how does an LRS work?

Answer 8

they can be reinforced for it

Question 9

when should the LRS begin?

Answer 9

once the animal is heads up in front of you (restart if they stop being heads up/leave)

Question 10

Is the LRS punishment?

Answer 10

no

Question 11

how and when do you maintain the LRS?

Answer 11

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.

Question 12

what happens if we bridge and reinforce too many LRS responses?

Answer 12

• LRS game (like recall game)
• loses value

Question 13

criteria

Answer 13

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

Question 14

group contingency

Answer 14

refers to a contingency whereby all members of a group must meet criteria in order for any member to receive reinforcement

Question 15

continuous reinforcement is used to

Answer 15

strengthen or re-build behavior

Question 16

variable ratio reinforcement is used to

Answer 16

maintain established behavior

Question 17

balance of reinforcement

Answer 17

• skew reinforcement to behaviors that need heavier reinforcement
• less reinforcement to behaviors that don’t need it

Question 18

what can we do to maintain a behavior or rebuild it when it begins to break down?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

stationing criteria

Answer 19

• have a clear SD
• should be maintained
• “heads up” criteria
• stationing plans

Question 20

target (noun)

Answer 20

prop that pinpoints a specific location for an animal to orient to or touch

Question 21

target (verb)

Answer 21

process of stimulating an animal to touch a particular object

Question 22

3 considerations of targeting

Answer 22

• targeting is a behavior
• not always nose/rostrum
• move body to target

Question 23

foundation behaviors

Answer 23

set of behaviors that are imperative to the development and maintenance of other behaviors

Question 24

foundation behavior examples

Answer 24

1) heads up
2) a to b
3) hold
4) follow
5) target

Question 25

anthropomorphism downfalls

Answer 25

• think for the animal and get it wrong
• make excuses for their mistakes

Question 26

shaping

Answer 26

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

Question 27

successive approximation

Answer 27

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

Question 28

Pryor’s 10 laws of shaping:

Answer 28

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

Question 29

targeting

Answer 29

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

Question 30

molding

Answer 30

def: showing animal what to do through physical manipulation

ex: helping a dog sit by pushing their butt down

Question 31

combining

Answer 31

def: asking 2 or more established behaviors to simultaneously shape a new behavior

ex: layback waka, sing and dance

Question 32

capturing (scanning)

Answer 32

def: animal spontaneously/naturally offers target behavior and the trainer reinforces it

ex: vocals, BB signature whistle

Question 33

observational learning

Answer 33

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

Question 34

fading

Answer 34

gradually changing a stimulus controlling an animals performance of another stimulus
OR
gradually removing prompts such as instructions or physical guidance

Question 35

superstitious behavior

Answer 35

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

Question 36

antecedent arrangement

Answer 36

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

Question 37

reinforcement arrangement

Answer 37

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

Question 38

retroactive inhibition

Answer 38

new learning effects the retention of old learning

(retroactive = retention)

Question 39

proactive inhibition

Answer 39

previous learning effects progress of new learning

(proactive = previous/progress)

Question 40

positive transfer

Answer 40

learning is made easier by something previously learned

(opposite of proactive inhibition + helps skip a few steps in learning)