Equiosity

Dr Susan Friedman is our guest for this very special 2 hour podcast. Normally we would divide up such a long conversation into many parts and spread them out over several weeks so they fit better into the rush of your life. But this conversation is perfect for binge listening. We didn’t want to make you wait, especially given the topic.

For this podcast we’ve shifted away from horse training, and we’re looking at how the corona virus is impacting our lives. The question I wanted Susan to help me with is how do we find our power? How do we reframe what is happening to us so our actions are not so fear driven?

The corona virus has shown us how fast our behavior can be changed by negative reinforcement. We are staying home, staying six feet apart, washing our hands, wearing masks - all to avoid becoming sick. My question to Susan was: I can certainly see how powerful negative reinforcement is, but for so many reasons it isn’t sustainable. Apart from the emotional toll it puts on us, there’s the paradox of avoidance. The more effective it is at changing behavior, the more ineffective it becomes at sustaining that change. That’s especially relevant when it comes to eliminating a virus.

The conversation begins with a discussion of escape and avoidance behavior. Then we make the pivot with this wonderful quote from Susan: “positive reinforcement is such a pervasive actor in our lives.” That’s a gem and Susan gives us many more. We begin with a discussion that’s centered around fear and end with hope.

This podcast is over two hours long. Don’t let that keep you from listening. We have divided it into segments so you can listen in small units. Or you can binge listen to the whole conversation. Whichever way you choose, this podcast will give you a lot to think about.

Enjoy!

In part 2 of our conversation with Cindy Martin and Mary Hunter we talk about PORTL. (Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab)

Cindy Martin hosts a clinic for me at her farm in Arkansas.

Mary Hunter is our co-presenter in our new Listen and Learn audio course on applied behavior analysis. During a morning’s conversation after the 2019 clinic, the discussion turned to PORTL.

Mary truly is our PORTL master. When she was working on her master’s degree at the University of North Texas, every week the graduate students in the behavior analysis department would get together to play PORTL. Actually, originally it would have been Kay Laurence’s table game, Genabacab.

Under Jesús’ direction the game gradually morphed into PORTL: the portable operant research and teaching lab. Table games had been used to help handlers improve their teaching skills. Now they could also be used to conduct research.

Mary’s Master’s degree used PORTL to investigate the effects of what are commonly referred to as desperation clicks. What effect, if any, does one bad click have on the rest of your training? Rather than frustrate lab rats, Mary used her fellow students to explore this question. Her research was published in the Journal of Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

In 2019 she and Dr. Jesus Rosales Ruiz also published the Portal manual. The manual shares lessons that were developed over seven years in undergraduate and graduate courses and also in professional workshops.

I’ve had the very great treat of playing PORTL with Mary. That’s what we’ll be describing as we pick up again with this week’s podcast.

Equiosity Episode 102: Emotions and Emotional Behavior - Cindy Martin and Mary Hunter

In a conversation with Cindy Martin and Mary Hunter we discuss the “split in the church”. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to learn what that metaphor means in relation to training. It opened up a conversation about using different markers for different behaviors, jackpots, reinforcement is a process not a thing, reliable loops, treatless clicks, and changing behavior cycles one element at a time. All of this led us to a discussion of emotions and emotional behavior.

The corona virus has forced the cancellation of all my spring 2020 clinics. I can’t get to my clinics, but at least I can share this conversation that was recorded last year at the spring Arkansas clinic.

At the end of the clinic, several regular attendees stayed on for a relaxed evening visit. After dinner, I set up my computer, got out my microphone and we recorded a clinic wrap up. Joining me were our clinic host, Cindy Martin, and Anita Schnee, Karen Quirk, and Mary Hunter.

Mary is our presenter in our new “Listen and Learn Audio Course: An Introduction to Behavior Analysis”. So this podcast is a great way to introduce her to you. To learn more about the audio course visit: equiosity.com

The topic we jumped into was a discussion of the difference between movement cycles and loopy training. What is the relationship between these two terms and how does that help us design better training plans?

We have reached a major milestone - our 100th Episode. to celebrate we are announcing the publication of a project we have been working on for this past year. We are delighted to introduce our Listen and Learn Audio Course - An Introduction to Applied Behavior Analysis.

Mary Hunter (Stalecheerios, The Art and Science of Animal Training Conference, PORTL, Behavior Explorer) is our guide through this course. To learn more visit: equiosity.com

This isn't all we talk about in this episode. Dominique will be moving her horses soon to a new boarding barn. She's been preparing her horses for the move by focusing on trailer loading lessons. We talk about several strategies to help her with two of her horses who are reluctant loaders.

We conclude this four part series with a discussion of choice as it relates to concept training.

Last week we described some fun games that make use of concept training. In this episode we begin with the question - how do you teach concept training?

Last week we began a conversation with Vidyha Karthekiyan. If you want to learn more about her training, you can visit her web site and facebook page - the unlikelytricksters.com. There you will meet Beanie, her site hound and her two cats. From that you can correctly infer that the animals in Vidyha’s life are not horses.

If you listened to last week’s podcast, you will know we are very much on the same wavelength when it comes to our animals. She works with dogs and cats, we work with horses. The difference in species doesn’t matter. Concept training can be taught to them all.

In this episode we define what concept training means, and then Vidyha describes some of the games she plays with Beanie. She uses match to sample to play card games we remember from childhood - Go Fish and War. Intrigued? So were we, so of course we invited Vidyha to join us for a conversation on concept training. What does that mean and how do you teach it? Have fun!

Concept training really lets our animals show us how smart they are. It is tremendous fun and it widens out the repertoire of behaviors you can ask for. Many of us have been introduced to concept training via Ken Ramirez and his many presentation at the Clicker Expo. He has inspired us to explore match to sample and other forms of concept training. One of the many people who has been inspired by Ken's work is Vidhya Karthikeyan. I met Vidhya at the January 2020 Clicker Expo. Her use of concept training is so creative I wanted to share what she's been doing. So this conversation is about concept training, but it began with a detour into husbandry care so that's where we'll begin.

This is a very different kind of podcast. Dominique and I were at the Art and Science of Animal Training Conference. We had just come from the Saturday night dinner where I was given a very special award. After the presentation I was joined by Mary Hunter, Caeli Collins, Suzanne Kernek, Katie Bartlett, Natalie Zielinski, Michaela Hempen and Cindy Martin to celebrate. This is the recording of that celebration.