Heat and Stress

Some interesting research from the University of Glasgow.

Measuring Stress Levels in Wild Birds

Consequences and Antecedents

Consequences can also function as antecedents, but antecedents cannot function as consequences.

Making Mistakes is Important in Many Ways

Making Mistakes

Dr Suess

Ratio Strain

Ratio Strain; where the amount you are asking of the learner exceeds the reinforcement available and they have long pauses in responding after the reinforcer is given (post-reinforcement pause) or they stop training altogether.

This can often look like boredom, lack of interest, walking off, easily distracted etc. In fact it is that the shaping is in steps that are too big or the amount of energy required exceeds the value of the reinforcer on offer.

This can be remedied by decreasing your shaping criterion and/or increasing your rate of reinforcement.

Be the best you can be

Behaviour!

Behaviour – human or otherwise – remains an extremely difficult subject matter.
B. F. Skinner

A Daily Challenge

“Replace judgement with curiosity.”

I’m not sure if this is directly from Crucial Conversations or a quote from Susan Friedman. Either way, it makes it no less challenging to do!

Examine the Truth

“Pragmatism examines the truth of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application. The pragmatic truth criterion evaluates science in terms of its products that benefit humanity.” Jose A. Martinez-Diaz

If the evidence no longer backs the theory the theory has to change.

That can be really tough to do. When we have believed something to be true for a long time it can be very hard to admit what we believed, and did as a result of that belief, is no longer true and that change needs to happen. We can actually go through a grieving process for the old belief.

Balance…no compromise

I can’t compromise on balance, emotional and physical, when I work with horses. It’s what keeps them sound of body and mind.

When I teach I may seem obsessed with the detail. I am. I am obsessed with teaching the detail of physical balance that means we have the least amount of extinction to work on… thus protecting emotional balance.

If physical balance is relaxed then the behaviours taught need to be refined which means the balance the horse learned early on has to be extinguished for the preferred balance. Extinction can be an emotionally painful process. As such, I focus on the correct physical balance and thus protect emotional balance.

By microshaping physical balance emotional balance is also built on. With teaching a microshaping approach the correct balance is taught from the start, extinction is at a micro level and thus, emotional and physical balance are built on from the outset. Compromise on teaching emotional and physical balance is not an option for me.