Hi,
I am so excited that you are continuing this journey with Blondie and me.
I know how challenging it is to carve out some time to read. That’s why I will try to keep to the point and use video instead of lengthy text.
Before we continue from what you already read, let’s do a recap.
Based on my learning from Alexandra Kurland, Mary Hunter, and Jesús Rosales-Ruiz, I introduced you to Israel Goldiamond and the constructional approach.
A constructional view of behavior as ‘rational’ and ‘adaptive’ aims to build repertoires in order to solve problems. In contrast, a pathological approach considers problematic behavior as ‘maladaptive, at aims at eliminating or alleviating such behavior.
If you need a reminder, you can go back here.
Goldiamond has formulated four main questions to guide us through a constructional program.
- Where do you want to go from here?
- Where are you now?
- How can you get there?
- What keeps you going?
You have seen examples for each of these questions:
We answered questions 1 and 2 with the example of developing leading skills. The horse avoided contact through the rope, and the owner wanted a horse that walks calmly on a lead rope and responds softly to requests through the rope.
Going through a systematic process, the owner could identify the steps in the process of leading that were smooth and which step was creating a low level of tension. The step before any tension is your starting point. (To watch a video of the process, you can go here.)
Then we looked at how to get to where you want to go, i.e., develop a training plan. Using the examples of halter and bridle training, we differentiated between shaping a behavior and fading the environment. (This was explained with video here.)
The before and after saddling video showed you the possible transformation in a short time frame, and if that is not motivating to you, then I don’t think you should bother reading the rest of the emails 😉.
What’s coming next?
In this 10-part email series, I will go through one specific training example to explain these principles again with Blondie’s help.
Today will set the scene.
Then, in the subsequent emails, I will share my take at solving this problem using a constructional approach.
Here’s the problem that I wanted to solve:
I want to work with Blondie at liberty but in moments of doubt she wanders off to the rails and cribs.
That’s no fun.
How to solve this problem?
One approach could be to think about ways to make the work more exciting or easier.
Can I make the steps smaller and increase the rate of reinforcement?
Or maybe putting up a barrier so Blondie can’t reach the rails?
Or even chasing her away from the fence – because, hey, it’s so frustrating!
These approaches may work to some extent, but they aim at eliminating a behavior, and in that sense, are pathological.
Instead, we want to build a constructional program.
Here’s your homework:
How could you approach this task using Goldiamond’s four main questions?
I will tell you how I decided to approach it in the following email. Then we can compare notes. 📚 😉
See you soon for the next part.
Michaela