Tricks and Treats: A Not So Scary Guide to Surprising Reinforcers
It is once again upon us my friends; my favorite time of year. Yes, that’s right, it’s officially spooky season! I’m not going to pretend to be all adult about it either. Everything about this time of year makes me feel downright giddy. I love turning the lights down low, lighting the fire, snuggling under a comfy throw and watching spooky scenes unfold on a big screen.
It might in fact surprise some of you to learn that I adore this time of year and not necessarily because the trees are putting on a seductive show or because PSL is back at every coffee shop in the neighborhood. The thing that really drives my love for this time of year are the Halloween decorations I see when I am out walking, the scary movie selection that becomes abundant and knowing that soon little ghosts and goblins will be knocking at my door begging for treats. Did you know that my evening walks increase exponentially in the month of October just so I can see the fun Halloween displays decorating people’s lawns? I find all of it magical, mystical and downright enchanting.
Perhaps you are thinking that it is a bit odd for a woman who is often described as “mature” to be so enamoured with a holiday that is centered on kids. But surprise! I am and without apology. I love to be surrounded by elements of the bewitched at this time of year.
Which leads me to the purpose of this blog which is essentially this: only the learner gets to decide what they find reinforcing and sometimes they will surprise us with their answer.
What the heck is a reinforcer anyway?
The word reinforcer can be defined several ways. For the sake of this blog post, I am using the definition as it applies to behavior. I don’t want to get too technical on you but here are the key concepts of a what reinforcer is:
- A reinforcer is a consequence to a behavior that immediately follows the behavior
- It increases the likelihood that the behavior will occur again in the future
- Reinforcers can be positive which is when something desirable is added to increase the behavior or…
- Negative, which is when something undesirable is removed to increase the behavior
- Reinforcers are unique to each individual, meaning what serves as a reinforcer depends on the individual learner and their preferences
Still a little confused? Here is an example of using a positive reinforcer to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated in the future:
- You use a hand signal or a word (or both) to cue your dog to perform a behavior such as “touch” your hand which means they should boop your hand with their nose.
- The dog performs the behavior and boops your hand with their nose
- You immediately follow the behavior of booping your hand with a yummy treat
Your treat is functioning as a reinforcer if you see the requested behavior of booping your hand with their nose maintained or increased or in the future. And here is a really important piece of information for you to ponder as you continue to read through this post: If the treat you gave to your dog does not increase the behavior in the future, it is not actually functioning as a positive reinforcer of the requested behavior. No matter how delicious you think the treat is. No matter how big or little it is. Or even if your dog eats it or doesn’t eat it. If the booping behavior doesn’t increase, then your treat isn’t meeting the criteria of a reinforcer. It’s an important distinction and one to be mindful of as you read on. If you want a nerdier breakdown on this topic, check out this blog from Allie.
Why the heck do reinforcers matter?
I’ve already discussed how reinforcement strategies should function, but equally important is that we understand why they matter. If we know that reinforcement strategies can be used to strengthen or increase desired behaviors, then it stands to reason that they will ultimately be important for creating training plans that make the learning process more enjoyable for our pets.
Reinforcers ultimately help us to help our learner build skills, provide motivation and can help promote independence, problem solving, and engagement with the learning process. We rarely stop to consider it, but we humans work for reinforcers every single day. The behavior of going to the fridge and opening it gets reinforced when we find a snack to eat. The snack acts as a reinforcer that will likely (in my case absolutely) increase the behavior of walking to the fridge and opening it. Because…did I mention snacks? Paychecks work as reinforcers because humans find money reinforcing for obvious reasons. Getting paid exponentially strengthens the behavior of showing up to work! To help pay for the snacks, don’t ya know.
Key components of effective reinforcement
When we are teaching our pets new skills, we want to be mindful of who they are and what they like, not what we think or expect they should like. Each being is unique and what works for one may not work for another. Here are some things to keep in mind when you are looking for something that works for your pet:
- Determine reinforcers on an individual basis. Tailor to the individual’s preferences in order to be effective.
- Deliver the reinforcer immediately after the behavior. We want the learner to make an association between the behavior that was requested and the reinforcer.
- Reinforce predictably and consistently. The learner should know what to expect from each person that interacts with them. Progress is greater when consistency is a component of the plan.
- Mix it up! Reinforcers can be more varied than you might think. Unless there are dietary restrictions, you don’t have to use the same food reinforcer all the time, and can have fun with some novelty and variety.
Get curious!
Ok, now that we’ve gotten some of the “science” out of the way, here comes the fun and maybe surprising part. I assume you have a pet or an animal in your life that you interact with. You probably have a good idea of the things you can use or already have used as potential reinforcers.
Wouldn’t it be interesting to see if you can provide more variety in your pet’s stash of reinforcers to keep things a little more enticing? Would it not be fun to find out something surprising and new about what motivates your pet and what their preferences are? Leading with genuine curiosity can lead us to surprising discoveries which in turn can help us solve training puzzles.
I and other members of the Pet Harmony team have worked with a lot of pets over the years and we have all seen some things when it comes to what individuals find reinforcing. Sure, lots of the dogs I have worked with love themselves some good ole fashioned beef liver treats. But I also worked with a dog who would do just about anything within their power when the frozen green beans came out of the freezer. Other kiddos have gone bananas over Cheez It crackers (can’t say I blame em,) naan bread, and one dog I worked with lost her mind over, wait for it, romaine lettuce. Must have been the crunch factor. My own dog Fonzy would come running from the other room if he heard the box of Frosted Flakes come out of the pantry (I know, I know, please don’t judge me but they just kind of hit differently when you don’t have the energy to fix dinner.) And listen, we built a rock solid recall using Tony the Tiger’s favorite snack, just saying. They’re grrrrrrrrrreat!
Were these dogs outliers? I mean, maybe? But again, only the learner gets to decide what they find to be the highest value and if it happens to be romaine lettuce I don’t need to know why, I just need to know that for the particular individual, it works really well. Success is success even if it is unexpected or different from what we consider “typical.”
Final (not so spooky) destination: Discovering what works for your pet
It’s time to put theory into practice and figure out what reinforcers work best for your pet. The simplest way to do this is to conduct a food preference test. Food preference tests can truly be as simple as:
- Picking two separate treats
- Hold each one of them in separate hands
- Present both hands at the same time
- Observe which treat your pet chooses first
- Repeat a few more times to get a small data set
- Switch the treats to opposite hands and retest to confirm
You can do this with as many different treats as you like to see if a hierarchy of treats can be identified. Look at that, citizen science right in your very own home and one the kids might enjoy getting involved with to boot!
Once you have your hierarchy of treats established, you can then start to strategize how to use them in the most effective manner. Here is an example of what that might look like:
- High value/most desired treat: chicken breast, goldfish crackers, pizza crust
- Medium value: carrots, salmon treats
- Lowest value: peanut butter treats, kibble
Now determine when you will use what and when. Here is what that might look like:
- Vet’s office, park, neighborhood walks: high value treats
- Backyard: medium value treats
- Inside the house: low value treats
These are just some suggestions as a guideline and it is always important to recognize that the environment and your learner are going to dictate what value the reinforcer needs to be in order to be most effective.
Here’s to harmony,
MaryKaye
Now What?
As we discussed, ideally we want variability in our reinforcement strategies. Conducting a food preference test is a great way to figure out what that variability can look like.
I do want to say that there are a lot of non-food related reinforcers out there. Forward movement, play, social interactions, sniffing, petting, opening a door and allowing the dog to romp in the backyard, access to a warm room on a cold day or access to a cool room on a hot one can all work as high value reinforcers given the right conditions. The possibilities for alternate reinforcers is vast and your curiosity about your pet’s preferences can lead you to some mighty big and delightful surprises!
Remember that reinforcer effectiveness is determined by the impact they have on future behavior so keep your detective hat on as you observe your pet and watch to see if the the skills you are teaching continue to strengthen or increase as the days go by.
If you are struggling to identify what reinforcers work best for your pet, we are here to provide guidance and help!
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