Information on working terriers, dogs, natural history, hunting, and the environment, with occasional political commentary as I see fit. This web log is associated with the Terrierman.com web site.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Extinguish That Baby!
When a baby throws a tantrum, you may be able to extinguish the negative behavior by simply ignoring it.
Watch the amusing clip, below, and notice how the Cattle dog follows along. An operant conditioner at work here!
When my dog puts on her Sad & Lonely & Neglected Face and insists that I've spent more than enough time doing homework on the computer, I just do MORE homework until she goes away.
Ignoring behaviors has its place.I don't correct passive attention-seeking behavior like that. The reason it just hasn't extinguished itself is because srsly, it IS hard to resist and she'll sometimes get a pat on the head out of it. Completely MY BAD on that one. :P If she gets really persistant though, I do tell her to "Go away." Her job is to not be near me at that time.
Ignoring when a well-timed correction would work is a completely different story. It's easier to cure a jumper once and for all with a correction than it is to keep ignoring...and ignoring...and then the dog jumps AGAIN a few days later because the lesson didn't stick, and you have to rinse and repeat...all it takes is a "We could use a little less of that."
One reason I do not have kids. Tantrums are just pure manipulation.
A baby crying can be annoying, but at least it's not manipulative on purpose. It's understandable.
But tantrum crying doesn't fool me. It's totally fake, and the kid doesn't even TRY to make it sound real. I just wish there was a safe way for parents to ignore those when they happen in public so that other shoppers and diners wouldn't have to listen to it, but the kid would get the message. But they can't just walk off and leave the kid--someone would snatch it or it would get into trouble, or be scarred for life.
So tantrums in public do not get ignored, generally. They are intermittently rewarded, which keeps them happening.
Looks like the brat is trained to the camcorder. Seems fine walking in room, then sees camcorder and throws fake tantrum. This is sort of like the attention the media give to rockstars and actors. Any attention they get feeds their lifestyle but, if we ignored them they'd go away.
I suspect the timing and knowledge of the trainee has to be good with this method of handling a tantrum, but it makes me smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxXIhM9nd2o
That video ALWAYS cracks me up!
ReplyDeleteWhen my dog puts on her Sad & Lonely & Neglected Face and insists that I've spent more than enough time doing homework on the computer, I just do MORE homework until she goes away.
Ignoring behaviors has its place.I don't correct passive attention-seeking behavior like that. The reason it just hasn't extinguished itself is because srsly, it IS hard to resist and she'll sometimes get a pat on the head out of it. Completely MY BAD on that one. :P If she gets really persistant though, I do tell her to "Go away." Her job is to not be near me at that time.
Ignoring when a well-timed correction would work is a completely different story. It's easier to cure a jumper once and for all with a correction than it is to keep ignoring...and ignoring...and then the dog jumps AGAIN a few days later because the lesson didn't stick, and you have to rinse and repeat...all it takes is a "We could use a little less of that."
One reason I do not have kids. Tantrums are just pure manipulation.
ReplyDeleteA baby crying can be annoying, but at least it's not manipulative on purpose. It's understandable.
But tantrum crying doesn't fool me. It's totally fake, and the kid doesn't even TRY to make it sound real. I just wish there was a safe way for parents to ignore those when they happen in public so that other shoppers and diners wouldn't have to listen to it, but the kid would get the message. But they can't just walk off and leave the kid--someone would snatch it or it would get into trouble, or be scarred for life.
So tantrums in public do not get ignored, generally. They are intermittently rewarded, which keeps them happening.
That is a funny video, though.
Talk about learned behavior! Everytime I see that classic, I'm glad I don't have kids.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the brat is trained to the camcorder. Seems fine walking in room, then sees camcorder and throws fake tantrum.
ReplyDeleteThis is sort of like the attention the media give to rockstars and actors. Any attention they get feeds their lifestyle but, if we ignored them they'd go away.
I suspect the timing and knowledge of the trainee has to be good with this method of handling a tantrum, but it makes me smile: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxXIhM9nd2o
ReplyDeleteThat's a great video!
ReplyDelete