Category: Theory, Terms & Abbreviations ¤
  Author: Dani Weinberg ¤
   Title: Another Way to Live ¤

>Why are people assuming that FEAR of a PP is more likely to result in 
>a reliable recall than an actual desire TO COME?

Because that's the kind of society we live in and that's how we've all 
been socialized.  I've just started reading Murray Sidman's book 
"Coercion and its Fallout," and he makes this point very clearly and 
powerfully.  Sidman is a prominent person in the field of Behavior 
Analysis, and his book has been recommended by Karen Pryor for many years 
now.  I finally have gotten around to reading it and recommend in, in 
turn, very highly.

I've just enrolled Ruby, my German Shepherd teenager, in a basic 
obedience class - primarily as an opportunity to give her some experience 
with other dogs.  (You know, the cobbler and his shoes....)  This class 
is taught at a local animal-supply store by a man who is, from all 
reports I've heard, very gentle in his methods.  He's agreed to have me 
come just to "socialize" my dog and has also agreed to my using a clicker 
in class (though he didn't know exactly what that was and asked if it was 
an "orienting sound" - probably thinking of Bill Campbell's "interrupt," 
or what we would call a mild conditioned punisher).  When I tried to 
explain about the clicker and used the phrase "operant conditioning," he 
got very excited and gave me one of his class handouts which talks about 
"operant theory."  An interesting idea.  OC is not a theory but a model, 
a description of how animals learn.  But never mind.  He did get most of 
it right on his handout, though he seems to be calling a conditioned 
stimulus a "Secondary Reinforcer" (using a Pavlov-like example involving 
turning on the light just before you feed your dog in the morning).

On another handout for students that he gave me, there are some basic 
information questions - name, address, dog's name, which "problems" do 
you have, etc.  One key question is:  "How do you discipline or correct 
your dog?"  This is what some psychologists call a "presupposition" - 
sort of like a "leading question" in the courtroom ("How often do you 
beat your wife?").  I finally just wrote:  "I don't.  I do issue an 
occasional warning - 'Ah-Ah' - and she has an 'Out' and 'Leave it' cue."  
The next question is:  "How does your dog react to 
corrections/discipline?" - and that one will just be left blank.

The presupposition that we "discipline or correct" our dogs is at the 
heart of Sidman's argument that we live in a society that runs on P+.  
Virginia Satir, the brilliant family therapist, used to call this the 
"Threat/Reward" model in which even a "reward" becomes a punisher because 
it's easily withheld.  This model says to people either "Do it or else" 
(the Threat part) or "You have to earn rewards, prove yourself, etc." 
(the Reward part).  No pain, no gain.

I think that one of the greatest contributions we clicker trainers can 
make to the world is to demonstrate to our human students, via dog 
training, that there is another way to live - and a much better way to 
learn.

Dani



Dani Weinberg
Albuquerque, NM
71044.3715@compuserve.com


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