What Is Operant Conditioning?
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Sam Basso
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Operant Conditioning (OC) is the science of the probability relationship between current behavior and future behavior, examining how current behavior is modified by the environmental consequences of that behavior. It is learning theory. The study of Operant Conditioning is limited in scope by only those factors that can be observed, measured and reproduced. The practice of Operant Conditioning is the risky idea that what happens in the laboratory will also happen in someone’s home. Thus, only those behaviors that can be shown experimentally, in a laboratory, to be modified by the environmental consequences are relevant, and if someone doesn’t adhere to the Operant Conditioning model for all of their training then that person is somehow defective as an animal behaviorist. But, more on that later…
OC has been a misused science, because the flaws in application of the model cannot be ignored. It is like studying organic chemistry your whole life, and then practicing as a child psychologist. The educational experience at the level of the molecule doesn’t translate well to the complex life of giving advice on how to properly raise a child.
Using a dog trainer or behaviorist who is an expert in OC, but not an expert in all the rest, is a waste of time and money. I have seen this over and over again. As an example, I recently was contacted by an OC defender, who told me I must know nothing about OC, and wanted to rebuke and educate me on the topic. I gave the example of a recent dog attack that happened in my town. A group of dogs were fighting, and they turned on a 2 year old child and killed him. I asked what would be the OC way of dealing with this case. Her answer was she would teach all the dogs to be on a Down Stay whenever the kids were around. Here is what I said:
“Teaching the dogs to lay down in places wouldn’t prevent this kind of aggression. It wouldn’t prevent the cause of the fight, and it wouldn’t have broken up the fight. You can’t have a bunch of dogs doing a down stay all day long and call that a fix. I mean seriously, who puts 4 or 5 dogs in a down stay all day or for several days in a row? That isn’t a practical solution. This is the very problem I’m getting at. It is silly to propose that as an answer, and if that is all Operant Conditioning practitioners have to offer, then that proves my original point. Let me put it in a nutshell. What you are doing is trying to control the symptoms of the problem. That is the main problem with most Operant Conditioning focused trainers. What I do is go after the reason why the problem exists in the first place and solve that so that you don’t get the symptoms at all. Figure that out with most behaviors and then associative learning processes are better taught and retained, and in almost all cases when it involves behavioral problems, you don’t need to do your type of training at all.”
In other words, I would look at the situation holistically, and get at the root causes of why the dogs would fight in the first place. OC is NOT a training method, it is a learning theory. People try to extrapolate from that theory ideas about how to work with this dog or that. That’s fine and good. Yet, we must go beyond that, because innate behavioral mechanisms are also involved, and those must also be taking into consideration. Get the dogs to be happy and friendly with one another, and then the dead child isn’t the end result. Thus, I wouldn’t waste time, or my student’s money or safety, trying to get the dogs to do a Down Stay all the time. That would make the dogs more miserable and even risk another fight and tragedy.
Do you get what I’m saying? Do you see why I call “Operant Conditioning trainers” novices? It is because they don’t even understand the terminology they are using. Yes, it angers them, and I get lots of angry emails from them. But, they aren’t behavior experts. They are OC students, but that isn’t enough. The real, bottom line problem with Operant Conditioning? Operant Conditioning theory takes away the idea of using wisdom from the understanding of the dog. Plus, insight isn’t an OC process, either.
Now you know what Operant Conditioning is all about.
[Please Read: Why I Don’t Believe In Clicker Training]
Sam Basso is a professional dog trainer and behaviorist, in the Phoenix/ Scottsdale metropolitan area. He’s known for being fun, kind, intelligent, and humane. Sam Basso has a unique personal touch. He has appeared on his own TV show, been a guest radio expert, gives seminars, publishes a dog related blog, does rescue volunteering, and is active in promoting animal welfare and fair dog laws.
