I have a plan

Before training a certain behavior, you should design a training plan that will follow this general scheme.

- Visualize and describe the final behaviour you want to get.
- Capture a behavior.
- Reinforce the behavior.
- Shape the behavior according to desired criteria.
- Assign a cue to perform the behavior.
- Strengthen (proof) it by adding distractions.

In my opinion, animal training consists of three main ingredients, but their proportions depend on the approach that everyone seeks. To me, they are as follows:

- 50% science: concepts such as "positive reinforcement", "Premack´s Principle", "applied behavior analysis", "extinction burst", "behavioral momentum", "schedules of reinforcements", etc.. are all terms with which science defines and describes various situations that have been studied under its rigorous prism, and which has empirically been shown to work when applied correctly. In my opinion, the more importance we grant to scientific techniques, the less chances for improvisation, which will lead to greater understanding and confidence in our work. This is why in this blog , as I said at my welcome entry, I will always try to expose scientific concepts that explain many of the behaviors of our animals.

Premack´s Principle (AKA "Finish your vegetables and I´ll give you an ice cream")

First of all, let me apologize for not having updated this blog as soon as I would have wanted.

Today I will talk about a very useful principle in the field of behavior and learning, of application, as usual, in animals of any species, including humans, dogs, dolphins and of course, parrots.

American psychologist David Premack (1925) enunciated, after various experiments with rats and apes, that "high-probability behaviors (those performed frequently under conditions of free choice) can be used to reinforce low-probability behaviors " thus leading to Premack´s Principle, of paramount importance in animal training and of application, for example, in advanced techniques such as back-chaining. Another way of looking at it, is understanding that reinforcements might be food, form example, or a behavior itself (if it is perceived as something nice, such as playing).

Click Click... Clicker

Click what…? A clicker is, nothing more and nothing less, a tool used to train all kinds of animals, improving our communication with them. It is not a magic wand that will get our parrots play basketball or sing carols. It is just a tool and as such we must learn to use it and know how it works. We could simply click with our tongue, or use a light flash, a distinct sound ... not necessarily a clicker, but it is important that the tool we use is capable of deliver always the same signal, which, coupled with its small size, low price and ease acquisition (in any pet shop you will find it) make this little gadget a very effective tool.

                                                   Ilustration by Kevin Brockbank