Do Multiple Trainers Increase the Speed of Canine Ability to Generalize a Learned Behavior?

Color poster with text, images, tables, and graph (Spring 2009)When the dog is under stimulus control of the owner, it is also important for the dog to generalize the learned commands to other people. ?Behavioral Applications Regarding Canines (BARC) has adopted a generalization procedure to increase the canines ability to generalize learned behavior but, there is no published research examining the efficacy of this training procedure. Therefore, we are interested in whether using multiple trainers when conducting generalization training increases the speed of the canines ability to generalize a learned behavior.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Effect of Conditioned Reinformce Type on Acquisition of Targeting Behavior in Canis familiaris : Clicking versus Vocalizing.

Color poster with text, images, and graphs (Spring 2009)In the 20th century B.F. Skinner converted haphazard animal training into a scientifically based process called operant conditioning. Skinner also discovered that delivering a reinforcer to animals at the exact moment a desired behavior was performed was critical. To solve the problem created by delays in delivery of reinforcers Skinner proposed using a stimulus that could be ?conditioned? as a reinforcer (CR) to signal to an animal that a food reinforcer was coming. The current study tested the hypothesis that dogs will learn faster when a ?Click? CR is used than when a verbal word, ?Good?, CR is used in training dogs to touch and follow a target.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Programs