4. How do you teach a squirrel to water ski? Operant Conditioning – complex behavior is broken down into a series of small steps that are eventually linked together into one larger behavior – Twiggy always would ride on his owner’s shoulders while playing in the pool – Twiggy learns to balance on little foam blocks – Twiggy learns to hold onto miniature handle bars – Twiggy learns to hold on while being pulled – Put it all together - Twiggy can water ski! “You really can’t discipline them. It’s a lot of love and repetition that gets them to where they are supposed to know what to do.” –Lou Ann Best

5. Operant conditioning = learn to do certain things because of the results of what you do Learn from the consequences of one’s actions Repeat behavior w/ good consequences Stop behavior w/ bad consequences

6. CC = organism learns associations b/w events it DOES NOT control OC = organism learns association b/w its own behavior and resulting event

8. B.F. Skinner studied operant conditioning by using the “Skinner box” aka “Operant Chamber”

10. Shaping = reward responses that get closer to the desired behavior to gradually guide the animal to do what you want

11. Positive Reinforcement = apply something good/ increases the behavior Negative Reinforcement = take away something bad/ increases the behavior Punishment = decreases the behavior

14. Primary Reinforcers: unlearned (ex. Food when hungry, painful headache going away) Conditioned Reinforcers: learned association w/ a primary reinforcer (ex. Clicker training for a dog) Immediate vs. Delayed reinforcement

15. Billy: Could you tie my shoes? Father: (continues reading the newspaper, ignoring Billy) Billy: Dad, I need my shoes tied. Father: Uh, yea, just a minute. Billy: DAAAAD!!!!! TIE MY SHOES!!! Father: How many times have I told you not to whine? Now, which shoe do we do first?