Tagged By operant conditioning

Positive Reinforcement vs Positive Thinking (and why Pollyanna would’ve sucked at dog training)

March 8, 2013, Anna Jane Grossman, 1 Comment

Do you really need to maintain a cheery outlook all the time in order to train your dog using “positive reinforcement”? Cynics, read on.

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What horse whisperers can teach modern dog trainers (and vice versa)

October 31, 2012, Gretchen Icenogle, 9 Comments

Famous horse trainer Buck Brannaman has a knack for communicating with animals by delivering well-timed reinforcements. So why is it that he categorically dismisses clicker training?

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How do you teach a dog to stop barking?

April 16, 2012, Andre Yeu, No Comment

Nuisance barking is a major reason why dogs are relinquished to shelters. One solution? Teaching a dog to both “bark” and “be quiet” on cue.

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Punishment & reinforcement in Little Golden Books

March 20, 2012, Anna Jane Grossman, 1 Comment

The Poky Little Puppy and Frosty the Snowman demonstrate the quadrants of operant conditioning.

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Happy Birthday to BF Skinner: It’s time for a rebranding

March 20, 2012, Anna Jane Grossman, 2 Comments

BF Skinner codified the laws of behavior and outlined the basics of how to effectively train an animal. But his terms for things just weren’t that catchy.

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How trained pigeons could’ve won World War II

September 10, 2011, Anna Jane Grossman, No Comment

B.F. Skinner, the great 20th century psychologist and social philosopher, had an idea about how to bring about world peace. It involved teaching pigeons to guide missiles.

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What Mister Softee can teach us about dog training

November 7, 2010, Anna Jane Grossman, No Comment

The other day  my niece did something that was a perfect example of classical conditioning: The Mister Softee song wafted in from the street and she ran to my sister in a kind of blissful…

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Your dog has the potential to be as smart as the ones in the New York Times

October 7, 2010, Anna Jane Grossman, No Comment

Yesterday, The New York Times had a piece on Brooklynite Peter Taft and his search -and-rescue dog, Cassius. Cassius, a German Shepherd, was found at a shelter in Milwaukee and then trained at the Northwest K9 Academy in Seattle.

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