ABC'S: ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

CONCERNS & SOLUTIONS

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Welcome to the ABC's! Animal Behavior Concerns & Solutions is an animal behavior column written by animal behaviorist and animal trainer, Diana L. Guerrero. This section is dedicated to animal training techniques for all animals and pets, and topics related to operant conditioning and reinforcement. This column discusses and clarifies the confusion over consistency and predictability during animal training.For pet training please visit the pet sections, see our pet behavior booklets in the shop, or click here for enrollment information for classes and teleseminars.

Confusing Consistency With Predictability

One of the most common training errors is to confuse consistency with predictability. What is the difference and why is it a problem or challenge? To the new trainer there may not appear to be any difference, however it can make a very strong difference in your results or degree of success and communication with an animal. Here are the formal definitions for you technically oriented types:

con-sis-ten-cy (n): ability to be asserted together without contradiction; harmony of conduct or practice with. (Training meaning would be: where you will use the training principles in the same manner with appropriate adaptations to maintain the criteria.)

pre-dict (vb): pre-dict-abil-i-ty (n):to declare or indicate in advance; foretell on the basis of observation, experience, or scientific reason; anticipating eventualities being usually concerned with certainties. (Training meaning would be: where you will always approach things and do things the same way without changes; often the animals/coworkers will know your pattern.)

Consistency is something we as trainers strive for. We want to make sure we are fair and maintain the same criteria required from the animal for the desired behavior and for reinforcement. It helps us to be clear and gives the animal some guidelines. However, sometimes we have to be more persistent than the animal in order to obtain these results and maintain this criteria!

Consistency is in relation to the level or degree of performance and the reinforcement related to it. In this sense it does not refer to consistent ratios or schedules of reinforcement. Some examples would be in order here.

Consistency in training a dog to sit, for instance; once you have shaped the final behavior, you will require a square sit in a certain position, with eye contact, and it should be held until the animal is released ALWAYS even if the behavior is acquired in different areas.

If you accept a crooked sit on a hip, you become inconsistent, and may loose the particular parameters you originally set up. You will always ask the animal for the behavior in a certain way, always give a certain amount of time to respond, and not accept substandard behavior. Eventually you will expand the location and degree of distraction paired with this sit as the variables. You will also reward in some capacity, although the reward ratio and schedule will be variable.

Predictability is when the animal can anticipate your movements. This can be in relation to the sequence of a show (accidental "chaining" or linking behaviors together in the same sequence so the animal does them all together in a specific order). You may also have certain patterns that the animal links to the training session.

In the same example of the dog and a sit behavior, this predictability would be present if you always did the sit behavior in the same sequence or perhaps in the same location at the same time. People very often do this around feeding time, where the dog is fed in the same place and has to sit first. Another common error is to ask for a sit behavior followed by a down. The down becomes chained and the two behaviors combined create a loss in the stability/performance of the original sit. So, every time you ask for the sit behavior, the dog lays down following the sit without directives.

In a show example, this can be seen in a couple of ways: first, the trainer may always do the behaviors in the same sequence or secondly, the trainer may always do the same behavior in a certain location rather than varying the area of performance. Many times rewarding a behavior is done with a primary reinforcer when it is not needed or even deserved. For some reason the give-the-animal-food thing is a common trap even some animal training professionals fall into.

Unpredictability in this sense is more desirable. It means that the animal has to pay attention to you, is more interested and stimulated, and has to actually think about what is transpiring. Of course, this all applies to the trainer too! Verbal feedback, variances in rewards, and in rewarding/reinforcement schedules should be unpredictable BUT consistent. I.e. the right response, the highest degree of response, the fastest response are always rewarded. It gets complicated when you move into a different area with higher distraction but that is another topic!

Combining both consistency and unpredictability is how you get a good performance from the animal. In this way the animal will never know what is going to transpire but does know the parameters of the variables that could be presented. I.e., low performance will not be rewarded and things will be interesting (variable or varied). Hope this helps you understand the difference between the two!

Are you a reader with a question? Be sure to submit it--and good luck in all your training endeavors!

About the columnist: Since 1978 Diana L. Guerrero has worked professionally with both wild and domestic animals. Guerrero has been affiliated with, and certified by, a variety of animal programs in the USA and Europe. Based in California, she writes, consults, and speaks. Information on her animal career programs, training courses, and her books {What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality (SkyLight Paths, 2003), Blessing of the Animals (Sterling, 2007), Help! My Pet is Driving Me Crazy (Guerrero Ink, 2007), Animal Disaster Preparedness for Pet Owners & Pet Professionals (Guerrero Ink, 2007)} can be found in this web site and in the shop. Questions for Guerrero should be submitted via the blog comments or membership forum.