Establishing operations

  Grrr... not about this, but because I messed this up on my exam and gave an example of an abolishing operation for an establishing operation. Abolishing operations reduce the value of a reinforcer.

Anyway, a pretty simple example is food deprivation to increase the value of food as a reinforcer. Or, one that I use frequently in my job, and with my dogs, is restricting access to certain toys. Luke has a certain rubber chicken, whose name is Victoria Beakham, who is reserved for special occassions. Kong Squeaker balls are also reserved for special occassions.

Do you let Luke know when you're going to use a special occasion toy? 

corvus

I'm thinking that anything that results in the anticipation of iminent rewards might be. Like cues that tell a dog you are about to work with them and pile treats on them. I'm quite excited about this, and it's got me looking really closely at the way I communicate with my dogs and how they respond.

Oh yes, one of the hidden treasures in behaviour. it is hard to tell you, but my heeling signal has that meaning. It is also my cue to start a chained behaviour.  It is deliberately muddied and also is used when a reward or play is given. i guess that often we see behaviour having a single ended black box type response rather than the possibility of having a feedback or self reinforcing type response. Sometimes i go to a seminar and learn just one very good thing, and the principal of self reinforcing behaviour is the one i learnt from Ian Dunbar.

I think that because we have more than one connection with our dogs during any behaviour we sort of give off some kind of emotion via scent and our behviour that says "this behaviour sucks, you really shouldn't like it and it won't do you any good" when we should be smiling our heads of and trying to add yet another component  to this reinforcement and establishing operation for that behaviour.Any of these behaviours IMHO should be done in play mode. Sometimes we need to slip into pack mode, but play is just fine by me.

One way of establishing operations is increasing a dogs ability to enjoy playing with you. This is a way of increasing the reward from the dogs point of view.There is a video of both my dogs playing with me. When my dogs play with me it is their rules, their game as much as i can. Sam is my younger dog and he is just getting comfortable with playing around other dogs. He isn't as fierce as he usually is in this Video. Luci is a real fiend. I swap toys deliberately, i try to add novelty value to them by doing this. It works for them and their style as dogs.

BTW the music is from AC/DC, the song is highway to hell. It is a slight needle from some others of the group  as i have been meaning to do a DWD routine to this music with Luci for a year or two... Luci is soemtimes Luci(fer) ... Another recent nickname is KMT... Kiss My Tiara. She is a real madame..

 http://www.focusonfreestyle.com.au/videoplay1.html

corvus

Do you let Luke know when you're going to use a special occasion toy? 

Generally, no, not specifically. Originally, those were pulled for use at his fun and games class, so they stayed in the car, in a special bag. Whether or not he knew that the bag meant those were might be available, I'm not sure. They weren't necessarily available all the time just because the bag was there though, and he never obsessed over the presence of the bag. Knowing that a certain reinforcer is available doesn't really change its reinforcing value. It can interfere with your teaching, because the dog gets a little obsessed with trying to get that thing.

 If you really want to wade in - not specific to dogs, but some good examples, nevertheless.  I especially like the little section on attention reinforced behaviors: http://seab.envmed.rochester.edu/jaba/articles/2000/jaba-33-04-0401.pdf

spiritdogs

I especially like the little section on attention reinforced behaviors:

I think that you can use this a litle backwards with some dogs. It is obvious that if we pay attention to a barking dog that the dog will stop barking while we pay attention but that attention seeking barking will increase.when the attention is removed.

I think this process may work backwards.

I experiemnted succesfully with both of my dogs prohibiting access to metal tubes which can often be percieved by dogs as being averisive to  retrieve. The access prohibition was obvious. By making the prohibition less robust in both cases, succesful retrival was accomplised.  With Luci, the prohibition was restricition away from an area in the training room. This seemed to encourage interest. After 10-11 days a "mistake" was made which resulted in her running around the training room with a metal bar in her mouth.

With Sam, restriction was with my foot. He would at first try to move it, which i "allowed" small amounts. I then "allowed" him to roll the article, and he picked it up on his own accord. To cement this development, i threw one metal article between both of them, and Sam fought Luci off for the article. You can assume that gobs of food and play cemented this development.

poodleOwned

spiritdogs

I especially like the little section on attention reinforced behaviors:

 

 

I think that you can use this a litle backwards with some dogs. It is obvious that if we pay attention to a barking dog that the dog will stop barking while we pay attention but that attention seeking barking will increase.when the attention is removed.

I think this process may work backwards.

I experiemnted succesfully with both of my dogs prohibiting access to metal tubes which can often be percieved by dogs as being averisive to  retrieve. The access prohibition was obvious. By making the prohibition less robust in both cases, succesful retrival was accomplised.  With Luci, the prohibition was restricition away from an area in the training room. This seemed to encourage interest. After 10-11 days a "mistake" was made which resulted in her running around the training room with a metal bar in her mouth.

With Sam, restriction was with my foot. He would at first try to move it, which i "allowed" small amounts. I then "allowed" him to roll the article, and he picked it up on his own accord. To cement this development, i threw one metal article between both of them, and Sam fought Luci off for the article. You can assume that gobs of food and play cemented this development.

 

 

No, I don't think it works backwards in the way you think it does. At least, the situation you described really doesn't seem to be it. Luke is an attention maintained barker, I believe. So, to provide attention non contingently, would reduce his attention maintained barking (while the non contingent attention condition is in effect). What you are describing is that the barking stops temporarily while the attention is delivered. However, the frequency of barking increases. Thus, attention for barking is an R+ for barking. For the person providing attention, the temporary cessation of barking is an R- for yelling at the dog, as your frequency of yelling at the barking dog increases.

In your second example, you seem to be claiming that access to the  metal tube was the reinforcer (for retrieving the metal tube?).  It doesn't really seem from your description that metal tube access was the reinforcer. 

 I was making a less obvious connection. When we provide attention while a dog is barking and it stops temporarily it can be seen in several ways. One way is that the dog's POV becomes that barking results in R+ which is attention which is what it wants.

When we ask for a dog to pick up a metal shaft we are asking it to do something that it typically doesn't want to do voluntarily. Put it this way i have yet to see a dog rush out and pick up a metal tube. I wish i did. One of the strong default behaviours of my dogs is to investigate. it is a strong R+ behaviour for them. By restricting access it increases the desire of the dog to investigate. So a bunch of metal tubes which had a mild R- value for the dog become R+. The desire to investigate is an under rated and under used reinforcer.

In the second example, the tube may get value from two things, the need to investigate it and the scarity value that it has just gained by being sought after by another dog. While i reinforce with food, i have the kind of dogs that get distracted by nearly anything when eating. I wonder sometimes what comes first ... it is horses for courses. Less curious dogs will not find investigating rewarding

poodleOwned

 I was making a less obvious connection. When we provide attention while a dog is barking and it stops temporarily it can be seen in several ways. One way is that the dog's POV becomes that barking results in R+ which is attention which is what it wants.

When we ask for a dog to pick up a metal shaft we are asking it to do something that it typically doesn't want to do voluntarily. Put it this way i have yet to see a dog rush out and pick up a metal tube. I wish i did. One of the strong default behaviours of my dogs is to investigate. it is a strong R+ behaviour for them. By restricting access it increases the desire of the dog to investigate. So a bunch of metal tubes which had a mild R- value for the dog become R+. The desire to investigate is an under rated and under used reinforcer.

In the second example, the tube may get value from two things, the need to investigate it and the scarity value that it has just gained by being sought after by another dog. While i reinforce with food, i have the kind of dogs that get distracted by nearly anything when eating. I wonder sometimes what comes first ... it is horses for courses. Less curious dogs will not find investigating rewarding

Umm... no, first example, pretty classic social positive reinforcement on the part of the dog, and on the part of the human, social negative reinforcement. I suppose though at some point, the dog may have had enough attention for the time being, and he'll stop barking for attention. The temporary value of attention as a reinforcer will be reduced, as will the temporary frequency of attention reinforced barking. That's an AO, and a different discussion. Also to note, the frequency of barking reinforced by anything else won't be reduced. So, if you have a dog who barks for attention, and also barks at passing trucks. I'll presume that barking at trucks maintained by R-, because the dog believes that it is his barking that results in the truck leaving. It has absolutely no effect on the barking that is maintained by a different reinforcer.

Also to note, the frequency of barking reinforced by anything else won't be reduced. So, if you have a dog who barks for attention, and also barks at passing trucks. I'll presume that barking at trucks maintained by R-, because the dog believes that it is his barking that results in the truck leaving. It has absolutely no effect on the barking that is maintained by a different reinforcer.

This is a good point, and one which should prompt us always to ask "How is the dog being reinforced?" because it gives us way more insight in to how we can modify a behavior.  Too often, we think we know the answer to that question, but, as has been pointed out, a dog can have multiple reinforcements for the same behavior (although I would argue that many dogs' "attention seeking" and "alert" barks sound somewhat different, which can give us a hint which reinforcement is at play).

spiritdogs

"How is the dog being reinforced?"

The other question is "how can i reinforce" and as we know that answer is not always obvious and is the key of establishing operations. It is not always obvious.  Both my dogs will take food as a reward..... after several weeks of calm careful work. Sam came home eating just two foods. His range is a whole lot wider.

They both will play. it took four months before Luci would take a tuggy. There is an intermediate step. Sam was a bit keener, but the option of throwing a ball to dogs who naturally just want to pick it up and do zoomies with it is a strong management issue. Try that at you local agility class!

I guess that without these steps i would be filling up the internet columns asking for advice on " my dog can do all these things in the backyard but when i take him/her to dog school it all turns to muck..".  And the usual parade of nonsenscial advice from both sides of the spectrum would be visited upon me. :)

 Yeah, Anne, I know that. Often times, there is a slightly different topography in behaviors maintained by two different reinforcers, but not always. I experience that more with humans that with dogs. I was trying to keep my example to dogs and realistic. 

corvus

Since learning about this I've been watching my dogs and trying to figure out if there are other establishing operations in training. I'm thinking that anything that results in the anticipation of iminent rewards might be. Like cues that tell a dog you are about to work with them and pile treats on them.

The technical jabber is going over my head, but I can relate to this statement.  Since so much of SchH is very specific, precise, stylized training and behaviors and because I do a variety of sports and activities with my dogs, I use a lot of ritualization for SchH.  I was against this at first and do not use this with Kenya, but I've learned that SchH has very very little practical application (even training my dog for personal protection will be an entirely different type of training and proofing once he is ready) so I jumped on the bandwagon.  The rituals help get the dog in the correct frame of mind, help jump-start the drive and the dog's desire for the rewards.

For example, we have a precise pre-track ritual. Yes, the dog *knows* he's going out to track so as soon as he jumps out of the van I need to encourage and discourage certain behaviors as part of the ritual.  The dog is prevented from tracking to the track but otherwise I ignore him (no playing, no obedience, dog doesn't need to heel, is simply walked out on a flat collar or dead ring and prevented from tracking).  Once we get close to the tail the dog is already on the scent of the tail and has the visual cue of the flag.  My dog tracks well but tends to get amped up, so our ritual is that he must platz before the tail and I wait until he is calm.  Then I stand the dog and allow him to get on the tail and at this point I switch the line under both legs and off we go.  

For obedience, my ritual is that regardless of what I'm doing between the crate to the start of our pattern or whatever we intend to work on, I stop the dog twice for a sit and to calm.  Once we reach our starting position, I stop him again (which is an auto sit).  I always start obedience at the starting flag in the starting position (sit at heel) regardless of whether we are even going to work on heeling or not.

For protection, the harness goes on and the dog knows it's time for protection.  Two pats on the hip and a "pas auf!" command and he starts his barking whether there is even a helper or sleeve in sight or not.

The rewards for these activities are not part of the ritual yet he knows the ritual and anticipates what we will be doing and the reward.  Like I said it also helps me in that I can take him out to the protection field to work on rally and not have him checking blinds and barking.  I can take him to the tracking field and do obedience without his nose in the grass.  Like I said I use rituals mostly with SchH to indicate not only what we are doing but that it's SchH obedience (as opposed to regular obedience or rally).  With Kenya I use very few rituals (I suspect the only rituals are ones that have developed unintentionally) because with her types of training, I expect her to perform the same way in any environment under any conditions.  Before I jumped on board with using rituals for Nikon's SchH phases, I took Kenya to this Dog Sport trial which is basically like SchH and the obedience for our level is the same.  We had no rituals, in fact I was there so early I had no idea what to do until our turn and was surprised to learn that in this venue you can "warm up" ON the field until the trial starts (for everything we'd done previous the dog was absolutely not allowed in the ring).  At this trial there was 4 inches of standing water on the field and these crazy billy goats acting really nuts through the fence.  Kenya ended up doing fine and actually beating several dogs that are SchH titled at their own game.  At that point I was very critical of rituals because the people insisting I use them were getting all flustered by environmental factors they could not anticipate or overcome with rituals.  So, I see pros and cons.  Ironically I think it's because Nikon has so much more drive than Kenya I am using rituals.  It seems they would be more valuable for Kenya since she has less drive but so much drive can also make the dog more anxious and hectic so the rituals help clear his head and get him focused right away.

 Lies, you're the one getting really technical here actually.  I think you're getting at conditioned motivating operations, and that is entirely too technical for me to get at right now.

For what it's worth, I thought this list of unconditioned motivating operations (from my handy dandy Applied Behavior Analysis textbook) might be handy

increase reinforcer effectiveness and frequency of behavior/decrease reinforcer effectiveness and frequency of behavior

Food deprivation/food ingestion (after deprivation)

Water deprivation/water ingestion(after deprivation)

Sleep deprivation/ sleeping (after deprivation)

Activity deprivation/being active (after deprivation)

Oxygen deprivation/breathing (after not being able to breathe)

Sex deprivation/orgasm or sex stimulation (after deprivation)

Becoming too warm/becoming cooler (after being too hot)

Becoming too cold/becoming warmer (after being too cold)

Increase in painful stimulus/painful stimulation decrease (while in pain)

 These are for humans, but I don't see why they can't be applied to dogs, or possibly even most mammals.