Lessons from a Harvard Man
I never thought I’d spend so much time thinking about B.F Skinner.
Especially not outside of a university class. For those of you who managed to stay awake during Phys 1001, that name probably sounds vaguely familiar. Skinner is best known for his research on Operant conditioning, a term he coined in 1937. Don’t let that date fool you. The principles of operant conditioning are still very much alive… and you are using them every day.
Operant conditioning can be defined as behavior “controlled by its consequences”. In a nutshell, this means that the immediate consequence that follows a behavior can either increase the likelihood that an animal will do it again (reinforce it) or decrease it (punish it). We are reinforced by getting something awesome or having something unpleasant, painful, or scary stop. Punishment is having something awesome taken away or having something unpleasant, painful, or frightening start.
If you were counting, that makes four ways we (or our fellow nervous system-having brethren) can be motivated to change behavior. These four consequences are called the four quadrants of operant conditioning. Check out the chart below.
NOTE: In my practice, I only use Positive Reinforcement and Negative Punishment. I recommend that you do the same. Stay tuned for future posts that explain the science behind why.
See what I mean? These quadrants are acting on us all the time! Take a second to think about something you’ve accidentally trained yourself to do (hint: think about how you tend to procrastinate, or maybe how your kid tries to postpone bedtime).
Congratulations. You now know how you have been secretly training yourself to go on your phone instead of folding laundry. And possibly how your toddler has been training you to get an extra snack before bed.
Likewise, if we take a look at a dog's behaviors we can begin to see how they were motivated by the consequences in their environment (a.k.a what they do to move away from unpleasant things and/or towards good or safe things).
This might be as simple as taking your spot on the couch when you get up. In this case, dog math dictates that when Fluffy jumps up and takes your place she’s rewarded with a warm spot to rest. The behavior was reinforced by a cozy spot so she will do this more often.
Maybe your pup is a flight risk and dashes through the door when you try to leave. If each time you opened the door your dog bolted outside and had 10 minutes of fun while you tried to catch him you can bet he will bolt each time the door opens to play this game. He will likely get faster and harder to catch each time. The act of door dashing is reinforced by the fun game of chase. Therefore, the behavior of running through the door increases.
From an animal trainer’s perspective, this knowledge is pure gold. If we can see what quadrant is in play then we can adjust the consequence of a behavior to shift an animal's motivation. Pulling from our previous example, if each time your dog rushes to the door you close it - that behavior was punished. You took something good (access to the yard) away so you are using the -P quadrant to decrease (punish) the behavior. If you then ask him to sit and open the door when he does you have reinforced sitting for the door to be opened by rewarding him with access (+R quadrant).
The quadrants of operant conditioning offer a window into the inner lives of animals. So much of what our dogs do truly isn’t personal, spiteful, or about revenge. It’s just about an animal doing what works to get to the good stuff and feel safe.
Thank you, Dr. Skinner. From dog nerds everywhere.
Anna
Sources:
https://www.amazon.ca/Excel-erated-Learning-Explaining-plain-English/dp/1888047070
STADDON, J. E. R., & CERUTTI, D. T. (2003). Operant conditioning. Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 115–144. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145124
