Stimulus Discrimination & Generalization

How does an animal learn to distinguish one thing from another? Discrimination is the first principle of learning.

No Prerequisite

How does an animal learn to distinguish one thing from another? Discrimination is the first principle of learning. We often take such “simple” concepts for granted. But those who really want to be great teachers/trainers must start where learning begins. The theme of this course is how animals discriminate and generalize stimuli and how a deeper understanding of this basic learning process can lead to more effective and efficient teaching.

Because a solid understanding of discrimination and generalization is fundamental to good training, in Stimulus Discrimination and Generalization, the students’ training time is focused on these basic processes. Students learn how to “ask the bird” questions, instead of making assumptions about “what the bird knows.” To do this well, students need to become increasingly sensitive to the bird’s subtle behavior changes so they can quickly adjust their own behavior and teach effectively. The more detailed trainers become at objectively analyzing their own behavior as well as the bird’s behavior, the greater their improvement in the application of behavior principles.

Class time alternates between formal lectures related to what students will observe in the training room and hands-on training. It is when the bird is in front of the students, impatiently (thank you, White Leghorns!) looking for clear instruction on how to get what they want, that the students put their understanding of theory directly to work (or not work!).

(FYI: It is really not hard to get a chicken to make these easy discriminations in any old haphazard way, but it is hard to learn how to apply learning principles precisely!)

Stimulus Control

After discrimination and generalization, the student has a better understanding of the most basic learning processes and is ready to explore how a discriminated stimulus comes to control a particular behavior.

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Prerequisite: Stimulus Discrimination and Generalization

After discrimination and generalization, the student has a better understanding of the most basic learning processes and is ready to explore how a discriminated stimulus comes to control a particular behavior. This course busts a lot of myths about “controlling behavior” as students are introduced to what experimental behavior analysis has taught us about the most effective and efficient ways to put a behavior “on cue” – or in other words, to put a behavior under stimulus control – which is a more accurate and helpful way to describe what is really going on.

By definition, a behavior is under stimulus control (on cue) when the behavior occurs in the presence of a certain stimulus and does not occur when that stimulus is not present. Simple, right? Unfortunately many behaviors that a trainer may want under stimulus control by specific stimuli are not. In other words, the trainer gives a cue, but sometimes the behavior does not happen. Why does the animal not do a behavior the trainer swears the animal “knows?” This course is about getting a behavior to occur when you ask the animal to perform it, reliably and accurately.

Lectures, hands-on training and discussions in this course concentrate on choosing appropriate stimuli as cues, when and how to put a behavior under stimulus control (on cue), latency (the time between the cue and when the behavior starts), maintaining the accuracy (precision) of a behavior once it is under stimulus control, how to assess the reliability of a behavior, problem solving a behavior the trainer think is under stimulus control but, by the definition, is clearly not.

Good training is defined by good stimulus control. In this course, every exercise is “exactly the same”: Train a new behavior, put it under the control of a particular stimulus, then strengthen and maintain that precise behavior while under stimulus control. Once the student has the behavior under stimulus control, they tell the instructor they are ready to demonstrate it. The instructor comes over and says, “Okay then, do it… now.” Why is that so terrifying?! Because what the animal really learned from the information the trainer provided is now objectively revealed. It takes courage for all of us to put our work under such scrutiny. But this exposed self-evaluation of skills helps each student discover his or her strengths and weaknesses and leads to pathways for improvement.

This Behavior Technology course offers students many opportunities to repeat a systematic process of putting a new behavior under stimulus control. With each new exercise, the students deepen their understanding of why they have been instructed to follow a process instead of just hoping the dog “gets it” eventually. Knowledge of theory paired with success in hands-on training builds students’ confidence in their abilities. The goal is for students to take the knowledge and skills home to work on them on their own, then return with new, more sophisticated questions.

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Setting and Shifting Criteria

This course is all about how to set and shift criteria as you shape behavior.

Prerequisites: Stimulus Control & Stimulus Discrimination and Generalization

Criteria: the ever-changing process of adjusting what you ask an animal to do. Setting and shifting criteria what you have and where you’re going. It requires the trainer to process many things at one time so he or she can make a split second decision and react practically instantaneously—and that decision/reaction cannot be too early or too late, but just on time whether delivering a primary or a conditioned reinforcer! Whew! It’s exhausting just thinking about it!

Then again, you can’t talk about criteria without talking about that other essential element, rate of reinforcement. But criteria and rate of reinforcement don’t mean a thing without good timing. Is it becoming clear why Behavior Technology course are not a day, a weekend, or even three days long, and why they must be taking in a particular order?

The students come to Setting and Shifting Criteria with at least 10 full days of knowledge and hand-on skills. This course pushes these skills to the limit with its new challenges. The training requirements are deceptively simple tasks and a few training parameters. However, to reach criteria for evaluation, the trainers will need to push themselves beyond where they are comfortable.

This course focuses on how to set criteria and shift criteria to shape behavior effectively and efficiently, from tiny responses to long persistent behavior; how to stick with the criteria set; and how to know when to change it. The students must be able to evaluate themselves accurately: "Did I actually do what I said I was going to do? If not, why, and how do I make sure I do what I 'meant to do' next time? If yes, what do I do next?" How long does it take a trainer to recognize that what they are doing is not improving their situation and that they need to change what they are doing (in other words change criteria).

Adding to the challenge of setting and changing criteria is the challenging mechanical skills required by the trainer in this course: Timing must be very precise and the delivery of the primary reinforcer is tricky when you want an animal to move fast. In this course, the animal might be quite a distance from the trainer when the trainer wishes to reinforce. How will you maximize the use of conditioned and primary reinforcement? How do you strengthen ALL the behavior you want equally so the bird moves smoothly even though you can’t provide reinforcement everywhere you would like to?

Setting and Shifting Criteria provides direct instruction and works with students to help them learn to respond quickly and accurately to these challenges.

Chaining and Multiple Schedules

Prerequisites: All previous courses

In the previous courses, students learned to build precise behavior, strengthen behavior, put behavior under stimulus control and increase the speed and accuracy of behavior. NOW we are finally ready to get started!! In Chaining, students put several behaviors together into behavior sequences for a performance. And in this course, students design their own behavioral performances.

This course is an opportunity for students to experiment and find ways to put together what they have learned so far about basic learning processes and their application. Students are free to train any behavior they would like and then insert these behaviors into a chain structure. It is up to students to explore how to have fun, be creative, and challenge themselves, all at the same time. Students may start with big visions of what they can teach, but the realities of training may necessitate finding ways to modify the original plans (perhaps several times) to make it all work in time for the final performance. Yet somehow, this is the course in which the most laughter is likely to be heard!

Teaching Behavior Technology

This course will ask the students to look inside themselves to discover what sort of teachers they are, what motivates them as teachers, and whether they can maintain patience and objectivity when faced with “good” and “bad” students.

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Prerequisites: All previous courses

At this point in the student’s Behavior Technology education, the concentration switches from directly instructing a nonhuman animal to directly instructing a human animal. Up to now, the student, while acting as a coach to a partner, needed to provide objective feedback about what the partner was doing while training. Now the student must teach the partner how to train a chicken using the capacities available to the human animal, including a complete system of language.

Sometimes it seems easier to work with nonhuman animals, maybe because we can blame them for our mistakes or we can forgive them for not understanding us. In this course, students must come face to face with their ability to communicate to another human what they want them to learn. Students need to be able to constructively tell someone what to do and what not to do, either of which that person may or may not be able to do. In addition, students must do what they are told to do to the best of their ability, even if they don’t agree with the instruction. Sometimes the reality of being a teacher can be emotional for students. But it can also be an opportunity for students to learn about themselves and improve their ability to instruct.

This course will ask the students to look inside themselves to discover what sort of teachers they are, what motivates them as teachers, and whether they can maintain patience and objectivity when faced with “good” and “bad” students (e.g., those who do or don’t follow directions) or any number of other possible conflicts that may arise between humans! Can the student continue to maintain a positively reinforcing experience for their partner (and themselves) regardless of the environmental conditions?