This piece first appeared in the May 14, 2024 issue of our newsletter.
As B.F. Skinner once told a student, “the rat is always right” (Vargas, 2020). What did he mean? In any behavior modification plan we are working with, the ABCs of behavior- Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence. When a behavior is reinforced, that means the behavior is strengthened; and when a behavior is weakened (or less likely to occur), we have likely punished that behavior.
By changing antecedents and consequences we can impact the animal’s behavior. When we say ‘the rat is always right’ what we mean is that we are fact checking in real time what in our training plan is working and what is flawed. It is code for ‘check your ego’ because the teacher’s ego has no place in the learner’s behavior loop; the learner’s ABCs are always right. If the training isn’t successful, there is a problem in either your antecedent arrangement or how the perceived consequence is impacting behavior. As ethical trainers, we are constantly trying to meet the animals’ needs first, and then build the behaviors we desire with positive reinforcement and careful antecedent arrangement. If your antecedent arrangement is consistently producing a behavior you feel the need to punish, then what is flawed isn’t the learner, but the antecedents the teacher is setting up.
When attempting to teach skills to animals (including humans) it can be easy to fall into the trap of assuming or placing blame on the learner. Sometimes the teacher is assuming a base level of knowledge that is inaccurate or lumping too many behavior steps for the learner to be successful with. It is always critical to remember that an animal not understanding or performing behaviors is not an insult nor disrespectful to the teacher. The behavior loop (antecedent [cue], behavior, consequence [hopefully reinforcement!]) should be free from assumptions and ego.
Every behavior is a data point for future reference. A dog not being able to respond to a “sit” cue suggests the dog either does not understand the cue or other stimuli in the environment are more salient than the cue. It could also be that the animal is too stressed to be in a learning frame of mind. Reducing outside triggers and/or reducing generalized anxiety and stress is crucial to creating a positive learning environment. These details hold true for our human learners as well. If a veterinary technician is too stressed about getting a medical procedure done to utilize their training for reducing animal stress, the teachers and system, not the technician, have failed the animal. The system has failed by putting a higher priority (stronger reinforcement) on ‘get it done’ than on limiting the animal’s stress and creating an emotionally positive learning history. Human learning has the advantage of being able to verbally define which behaviors we reinforce. Therefore, it should always be clear to our human learners that recognizing and decreasing animal stress is always the first priority and should always be positively reinforced by management.
Agree with this teaching and learning approach? Communicate with FASHION!
References:
Cooper, J., Heron, T., & Heward, W. (2020). Applied Behavior Analysis, Third Edition. Pearson.
Vargas, J. (2020). Behavior Analysis For Effective Teaching. Routledge
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