Page 156 - Zoo Animal Learning and Training

128 7 The Art of ‘Active’ Training

VetBooks.ir session with the animal performing several Zoo a trainer taught a jaguar (Panthera onca)
to roll over by kneeling in front of the cat’s
behaviours in rapid‐fire succession and each
correct performance receiving a click but only
over, and motioning with her hand as if to
every third or fourth click being backed up cage, leaning to her side, tipping her head
with a food reinforcer. The animal performed guide the cat’s head. The jaguar followed the
several behaviours correctly and several behav- trainer’s body language, and the trainer rein-
iours incorrectly, often after multiple cues. forced approximations of the roll behaviour
About half way into the session the gorilla until the cat finally rolled all the way over.
stood up and hit the top of the door with all his The trainer then began to systematically fade
might and ran off to the adjoining den. out each of the prompts until the cat rolled
A few weeks later the same keeper and the over given the verbal cue ‘roll’.
same gorilla did another small experiment. A trainer at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo taught
This time the keeper backed up each bridg- a Wolf’s Guenon (Cercopithecus wolfi) to bra-
ing stimulus with a food reinforcer. The chiate around the exhibit by walking along the
keeper even mentioned that this session edge of the exhibit and reinforcing small
might be difficult for her because she has approximations of the animal following her
never paired every bridge with a food rein- along the barrier. Many trainers have taught
forcer before. The training session went per- animals to open their mouths, lift their arms,
fectly. Every cue brought a correct response, move from one area to another and countless
and every correct response resulted in a other behaviours using their own body lan-
marker followed by a food treat. The session guage to prompt the behaviour. Prompts can
went on and on and neither the keeper nor be very important tools to help shape behav-
the gorilla looked like they wanted to stop. iour. However, the rule of prompts is to fade
The high rate of reinforcement provided them out as soon as the behaviour will allow.
clear communication of the behaviour–con- When prompts are not faded the animal’s
sequence contingencies and increased the behaviour will become dependent on the
gorilla’s performance and motivation to stay prompt. If the trainer at Denver Zoo had not
in the training session. faded the prompts the jaguar would not per-
Some of the most common reasons keepers form the behaviour unless the trainer knelt
say they use their bridging stimuli without the down, leaned to her side, tilted her head and
backup reinforcer include the following erro- gestured with her hand. As the trainer system-
neous rationale: not backing up each bridge atically fades prompts, the animal gains a bet-
makes training more interesting for the ani- ter understanding of criteria, cue, and
mal; it builds stronger behaviour because it is consequence. Ultimately, past consequences
a variable schedule of reinforcement; the should drive future behaviour, not antecedent
clicker is a reinforcer so you don’t need two prompts, and the signal for the behaviour is a
reinforcers; it reduces frustration elicited deliberate one.
aggression if a trainer runs out of food; it Baiting, or luring, is also a prompt. Many
means good job and keep going. Each of these keepers show an animal food to get it to come
are not scientifically sound. A more detailed into a holding area, go into a crate, or move
discussion of these points is found in the arti- from one area to another. Baiting can be a
cle called, ‘Blazing Clickers’ (Dorey and Cox helpful prompt to establish new behaviour,
2018; Martin and Friedman 2011). but baiting can be a liability if not faded out
of the training programme early. When an
animal comes to a shift door and sees the
7.3.4 Prompts
food already placed on the floor inside, it can
Prompts are antecedent stimuli trainers use decide if that type or amount of food is worth
to increase the likelihood that an animal will going into the holding area. If the animal
perform a specific behaviour. At the Denver decides to stay outside, many keepers will up