Each day I receive email notifications of activity on the Internet that relate to birds and bird training. It is quite surprising how much information there is out there and how much more is being written every day. Now, you might think that this is a great thing that must be raising the bar in terms of the health and well-being of companion birds. However the truth is that as the volume of information grows so does the problem of separating the good information from the not-so-good.
In the scientific community there is a process called peer-review that is designed to filter the information; it allows new ideas and hypotheses to be reviewed and commented on by other experts in the field. Unfortunately there is no similar process filtering the flow of information onto the Internet. This means that anyone who wants can create an account at blogger.com and start posting their care and training ideas for anyone to read.
So, how can someone searching for help with their companion bird select the most accurate information from this sea of articles and videos? There a few simple rules that one can apply that may help.
First I suggest that you check the profile or biography of the person writing a blog. Many blogs are written anonymously, if the only name given is a nickname like “birdlover32” or “admin” I am immediately suspicious. If the writer is being secretive about who they are can we really trust what they are writing?
Second, is there any third-party support for what they are writing? Does the writer acknowledge where they found the information they are presenting? Sometimes there is unique information that a writer may have gained from their own personal experience, however, it is highly unlikely that anyone writing about bird care or training is presenting information that 100% original and of their own creation. Be especially suspicious if the blog is anonymous and there are no references to third party support for the statements made. Even when sources are quoted search for the quoted material and read that too, many times a writer will “cherry-pick” just what supports their information from a much larger article, one that contains the full story.
Third, look for a second or even a third writer who is presenting the same or similar ideas. Apply the first two rules above to those writers as well. If you find the information being presented in multiple articles by writers who tell you who they are and what their experience is, plus they references their information sources then you are now getting close to finding good information.
The golden rule is to always have a healthy distrust of anything you read on the Internet until you have done your own research or at least asked a trusted source for their opinion on the material.
The Internet is a valuable resource; these days rather than ordering piles of books on various subjects I find myself staring at a Google page more and more often. Using Google and doing research are skills that each of us needs to develop if we are to find the gems of information that are being published for “free.” I placed the word free in quotation marks because this information is not truly free; it requires each of us to invest a large amount of time finding the good information.
Sid.
Archive for the ‘Training’ Category
Finding gems in the sea of information
Saturday, September 13th, 2008Clear and Accurate Communication … Training Tenet
Monday, July 21st, 2008I received an email from someone who had just read an article written by one of the people for whom I have great respect, Karen Pryor. The reason the person wrote to the bird training blog was to ask if they were correct in their reading of the article; stating that it was confusing in its use of some very important Operant Conditioning (OC) terminology. The article is available online at http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1469.
The article sets out to answer the question:
“Can you teach everything without punishment? By punishment I mean “correction” which I translated to “punishment” in my question …”
When I read this article I have to admit that I was very disappointed in what I read. Here was an article from someone, as I said earlier, that I really respect. Karen Pryor has brought so much to not only pet owners but also to zookeepers around the world with her writings about training and in particular Clicker Training. Her book “Don’t Shoot the Dog” is in my opinion required reading for anyone who works with or owns animals. This article however is so misleading in its use and definition of what is a well defined OC and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) term that it does nothing to educate the reader and gives a wrong answer the original question posed.
Let’s be clear here, if this article were not written by a well respected trainer it probably wouldn’t matter too much, it would be just another online writer misunderstanding and misstating the science.
Here is the scientific definition of “punishment”:
Stimuli that serve to reduce the likelihood that the behavior immediately preceding it will be repeated in the future.
Now let’s take a look at the definition from the article:
On the other hand, a punishment is something aversive that you do on purpose.
As you can see this is absolutely not what punishment is at all.
The article goes on to say:
But, a punishment does NOT have a predictable effect on the future.
Once again this is completely wrong. From our definition of punishment we know that it has a very well defined effect upon future behavior. Further more, if the stimulus, i.e. the so-called punishment, does not reduce the likelihood a behavior will be repeated then by definition it is not a punisher. Punishers or reinforcers only get to be called those things if they have the defined effect upon the behavior preceding them. Plus, their effect is always judged by the behavior of the subject.
So, why is this so important and why does it disappoint me so much? It comes down to one of the tenets of good training and that is good communication. One of the biggest problems experienced by folks that are new to training is the rather arcane words that are used to describe the process. Several of the well defined terms of OC and ABA come to the science with a long history and emotive meanings. “Punishment” is a prime example; because of its long use in a social rather than scientific context it brings many assumptions to the mind of the reader. It is therefore important that whenever a trainer describes a training process or a technique that they take extreme care to not only define these terms but use them exactly and accurately, in this way the trainer clearly communicates the process and understanding to whoever is reading the article. Consistent and accurate communication is not only required of trainer to subject, it also required of trainer to trainer, and trainer to student. With careless and incorrect use of terms in an article that purports to be a training article comes just more confusion. This was demonstrated by the person who wrote to me asking about this mentioning that the article had been promoted in a discussion group as a “very good” article that would clarify what aversives and punishment are. In fact it does quite the opposite.
In order to be a good educator one really needs to follow the tenet of clear and accurate communication. The science of OC and ABA are still in their “formative” years in the context of the greater public. It is the responsibility of those of us to work to raise public awareness of this science to serve it well by being diligent and careful when we write or speak about it. Using and defining its terminology in a careless and inaccurate way will only serve to further confuse our audience and will certainly not serve our goals of raising awareness and use of these powerful training techniques.
Read this archived article for an overview of the terminolgy, also Dr. Susan Friedman made a similar appeal for clear communication in her Goodbird magazine (Vol 2-1) article “Terminology Tumult: Coming to Terms with Terms”.
Sid.
Crate training outline
Sunday, May 25th, 2008Our show season is now underway and this has had two effects on this blog. The first is that getting the birds and equipment ready for the new season consumes a large amount of time and finding the focus time to write blog entries is difficult. Secondly, getting the birds ready for the season reminds me of some of the things that kind of get taken for granted once the season is underway. It is this second item that is the inspiration for this blog entry.
Crate training is a subject that has come up a couple of times over the last few months from a couple of blog readers. I promised that I would write about it and working our pied crow (Corvus albus) Kumbi reminded me of that promise. Kumbi has been in our show from the beginning of Avian Ambassadors, and he was the subject of a paper I wrote and presented at the IAATE conference in 2006. A part of that paper addressed an issue we had getting Kumbi to willingly enter his travel crate after his show segment. This issue caused me not only to focus more of his training time on entering his travel crate but to incorporate entering the crate into his show behavior. Since that time Kumbi finishes his show segment by flying to his crate, opening the door, and entering it.
While everyone probably doesn’t need that level of performance from their bird it is highly desirable that birds are familiarized with their travel crates and are trained to enter and remain calmly in them. There are many different ways to train entry; my preferred method is to start with a much larger crate than the one I plan on using for the bird; I like the plastic dog crates that come in two parts and I begin by using only the lower half of the crate and no door attached. Place it on a large flat surface; if you use a table make sure to cover the surface with some carpet or a large towel so that the bird can stand without slipping and also make sure the floor of the crate is covered too. We want to do our best to avoid things that may make our bird nervous during this training.
If you are using food rewards for training your bird be sure to begin this new training step before mealtime and also set aside your bird’s favorite treat item for the training sessions.
If you have your bird target trained you can begin by targeting the bird closer and closer to the crate. As it becomes more comfortable gradually target the bird into the crate. The goal here is to have the bird willingly target into the crate.
For birds that are not target trained begin by luring the bird closer and closer to the crate until he is standing in the crate calmly.
My preferred approach is not to use target training but to have already trained the bird with a “go there” cue. The cue for this behavior can be a simple finger point to the place you want the bird to go. Begin on a table top or if your bird is flighted use a “T” perch and train him to hop and then fly from your hand to the perch.
Regardless of whether you target or cue your bird into the crate it is important that your bird becomes comfortable entering this “open-topped”, door-less crate. Do not add the top of the crate until your bird is comfortable with this first step.
The biggest mistake that most people make in any training is taking too big of a step before the bird is ready. Equally important is that the training should move ahead at the pace of the bird. Keen observation of your bird, its body language, and response to your cues should be your indicators of when to raise your expectations.
Once your bird is comfortable with this first stage add the top half of the crate; you will almost certainly need to begin almost at the beginning, slowly getting your bird closer and closer to the crate and then finally entering it although the process should go quicker than the initial training with the half crate.
Do not add the door until the bird is entering the crate and remaining calm in there. In fact before adding the door begin to extend the period that the bird has to stand in the crate before they get their reward. When they are remaining in the crate calmly for say a minute or so add the door; initially do not close the door when the bird enters. Continue to reward calm behavior and gradually close the door. If the bird shows any sign of rushing to get out of the door do NOT close the door; open it and allow the bird to exit and then repeat the entry behavior. It is important at this stage to build the bird’s confidence and to communicate that the bird is in control by allowing it to exit when it chooses. Once you are able to close the door reward your bird for remaining calm in the crate; do this through the window slots on the side of the crate.
Now that you are able to close the door and have your bird remain calm in the crate you may think that you are done. However, this is just the beginning; the training must proceed by generalizing the calm behavior when the crate is moved. Begin with simply lifting the crate gently off the table, reward your bird for calm behavior. It is vital at this stage to take small steps to continue to build the birds confidence with being in the crate. The biggest mistake people make is to start carrying the bird around too soon, before they are ready. A mistake at this stage can set your training back a very long way.
As I stated earlier the temptation to rush ahead and perhaps close the door on a bird that is trying to leave can have consequences that set your training back a long way. The tricks are patience and as always good observation of your bird’s behavior.
Happy training,
Sid.
Comments on YouTube video
Friday, May 23rd, 2008The demands of the new show season have consumed the time it takes to prepare blog entries and it has been a couple of weeks since my last article. However this morning I became aware of a very sad and significant video posted to YouTube. It touched a tender spot for me because I have said many times in discussion groups that in my opinion they were not the location or the medium for the average companion parrot owner to be learning how to free-fly their bird. My contention has been that it is not those who are active in the groups that concerned me but the silent majority of group members who never become active participants. I believe the person who posted this video was probably one of that silent majority who took what they read and saw at face value, with tragic consequences.
I would warn anyone thinking of watching the video of two things; first it is a heart-wrenching thing to watch a caring, sensitive parrot owner take full responsibility for the loss of their bird. Secondly the owner does use language in his self-admonition that may offend some folks, so viewers beware.
It took great courage on the part of the owner to make and post this video and out of respect for that owner I do not propose to comment directly on the observations I made of the early part of the video where the bird is being flown outdoors.
I truly hope that many people will view this video, not because of any voyeuristic intent on my part or theirs, but in the hope that they will realize that free flying a bird is a huge responsibility. It requires a dedication of time, certainly in the early training, that I believe few companion parrot owners have if they are being honest with themselves. It is certainly not something that anyone should undertake lightly and without a solid understanding of the behavioral principles involved in the required training. To believe that one can fly a bird free safely with only the bond to its owner as the control is self-delusional, disrespectful to the bird, and irresponsible in the extreme. These comments are not directed at the owner who suffered this loss, but at those who would encourage such actions by their own careless, ill-conceived internet writings and videos.
What makes this event even more poignant for me is that this week I had the great pleasure of meeting a small group of people with whom I had previously only exchanged email. These folks regularly free fly their parrots on the beach in Southern California. They do so in my opinion in a way that demonstrates how it should be done and that is with care and attention to the training process. Well done “Raz” Rasmussen, Hugh Choi, and Hillary “Tex” Hankey I applaud your dedication to your birds.
Sid.
Trainers who use science are the best … maybe
Thursday, April 24th, 2008Seeing discussion of training in online groups is excellent, not only because it means that it raises the profile of training but also because it gives me an opportunity to understand better what this blog may bring to the community. What peaked my interest this morning was a discussion about trainers who use science and trust building.
I think everyone should be pretty much aware of my approach by this point in the life of my blog however just for the new readers let me say that I place trust and relationship building ahead of everything else when it comes to training. As I have previously said there are methods that can be employed that will override the lack of trust an animal may have in the trainer; their use however depends upon the ethical position of the trainer.
I noted one comment in the thread I was reading this morning that said:
“There is no morality or ethics attached to Operant Conditioning.”
Now I think I understand what the writer was saying but that sentence kind of upset me a little, it tweaked on an important subject, the ethics of trainers and how they affect the choices those trainers make. What I believe the writer was saying was that the science itself does not imply or apply any ethical or moral judgment. When we use the scientific term “punishment” it is simply describing a consequence of a behavior that is likely to reduce the presentation or frequency of that behavior in the future. As far as the science is concerned there is no judgment about the consequence. However, when we come to the application of the science we certainly do find ourselves needing to make ethical, even moral judgments in our choice of strategy.
This is especially true when it comes to the use of weight or food management in the training process. As I have written before, motivation is a balance and one can certainly tilt the balance in favor of an animal performing a requested behavior by reducing its weight through food withholding. The ethical question is whether it is the right thing to do before all other factors, including better trust/relationship building, have been exhausted. In my opinion it is not.
Also, the subject of the discussion, “Trainers who use science and trust building” I think missed a huge and important point. Even the strategies that are thought of as “bad” or inappropriate are using that same science. The use of aversives and punishers is also included in the science. Therefore even the trainer who towels a bird to “break” it, a horrible strategy that hopefully is now way behind us, is using the science (flooding). One simply can not claim that a trainer who uses Operant Conditioning and Applied Behavior Analysis is doing it the right way. It is the ethical choice of strategy made by that trainer that should define them.
One more point pops into my mind too. I keep reading people who say “we train only with positive reinforcement” like it somehow validates them and their strategy. Let us not forget about the ethical choices before we place these folks on a pedestal. For example, think about someone who makes this claim who uses weight management as their primary strategy, they have not built a strong trusting relationship they have simply built a food dependence. They can rightly claim to use positive reinforcement, that’s what they are doing, reward correct behavior with something that increases the likelihood of the behavior being repeated. However, consider this; what if that same bird was capable of performing to the same level with only the smallest reduction in their diet and therefore their weight and that this level was achieved by the trainer taking the time to build trust, confidence, and a good relationship with the bird. By gradually presenting new environments to the bird so that its confidence grew. Which of these trainers would you think is the better trainer?
This same thread brought a couple of other points to mind that I am hoping to expand on in future articles. Right now with spring in the air it is time to go and work some birds.
Sid.
