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Animal trainer
Early 20th century animal trainer and a leopard.
Occupation
Namesanimal trainer
Occupation type
performing arts
Activity sectors
social science, busking, circus, show business
Description
Competenciesskills, manual dexterity
Education required
see professional requirements
Fields of
employment
police, education, entertainment
Related jobs
Lion tamer; see related occupations

Animal training refers to teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. Training may be for purposes such as companionship, detection, protection, and entertainment. The type of training an animal receives will vary depending on the training method used and the purpose for training the animal. For example, a seeing eye dog will be trained to achieve a different goal than a wild animal in a circus.

In some countries, animal trainer certification bodies exist, but they do not share consistent goals or requirements. The United States does not require animal trainers to have any specific certification [1]. An animal trainer should consider the natural behaviors of the animal and aim to modify behaviors through a basic system of reward and punishment.[2].

Behavioral Approach

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Principles

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During training, an animal trainer can administer four potential consequences for a given behavior: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment. Positive reinforcement occurs when an animal's behavior is followed by a stimulus that increases occurrences of the behavior in the future [3]. Negative reinforcement occurs when a behavior is followed by the removal of an aversive stimulus and occurrences of the behavior increase in the future [4]. Positive punishment occurs when a behavior is followed by the addition of an aversive stimulus and this decreases occurrences of the behavior in the future [5]. Negative punishment occurs when a behavior is followed by the removal of a stimulus and occurrences of the behavior decrease in the future [6].

Behavior analysts emphasize the use of positive reinforcement for increasing desirable behaviors [7] and negative punishment for decreasing undesirable behaviors. If punishment is going to be used to decrease an undesirable behavior, the animal must be able to receive positive reinforcement for an alternative behavior [8].

Establishing New Behaviors

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Reinforcement should be delivered on a predetermined schedule. A schedule of reinforcement specifies whether each desirable response is reinforced or only some [9]. Schedules of reinforcement include variable ratio, fixed ratio, variable interval, and fixed interval. In a fixed ratio schedule, a specific number of responses occur before the delivery of a reinforcer [10]. In a variable ratio schedule, the delivery of reinforcement occurs after a set number of responses, but that number varies around an average number [11]. In a fixed interval schedule, the desirable first response that is emitted after a certain time has elapsed is reinforced [12]. In a variable interval schedule, the first response given after a predetermined but variable amount of time has elapsed is reinforced [13]. While continuous reinforcement in a fixed ratio schedule may be necessary for the initial learning stages, a variable ratio schedule is the most effective at maintaining behavior over long periods of time [14].

There are various methods animal trainers can use to prompt an animal to respond to a stimulus in a specific way. Shaping is a process by which successive approximations are rewarded until the desirable response topography is attained [15]. An animal trainer can use conditioned reinforcers, like clickers, to bridge the interval between response and positive reinforcement [16]. Signals, targets, and cues can be used to prompt a response from an animal, and can be changed to other stimuli or faded in magnitude [17]. In order to delay satiation, reinforcer size should be as small as possible and still be effective for reinforcement [18]. Also, the timing of the delivery of a reinforcer is crucial; initially the interval between response and consequence must be minimal in order for the animal to associate the consequence with the response [19].


Notes

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  1. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. x
  2. ^ McGreevy & Boakes, Carrots and Sticks: Principles of Animal Training, p. xi-23
  3. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 78
  4. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 78
  5. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 122
  6. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 123
  7. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. 2
  8. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 135
  9. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 86
  10. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 88
  11. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 88
  12. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 89
  13. ^ Miltenberger, Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures, p. 90
  14. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. 21
  15. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. 35
  16. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. 15
  17. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. 70, 75, 77, 79
  18. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. 10
  19. ^ Pryor, Don't Shoot the Dog, p. 7-9

References

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  • McGreevy, P & Boakes, R."Carrots and Sticks: Principles of Animal Training".(Sydney: "Sydney University Press"., 2011).
  • Pryor, Karen. (1999). Don't Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training. Bantam Books: New York, NY.
  • Miltenberger, R. G. (2008). Behavior modification: Principles and procedures. (4th ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
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