Presentation Details
| When Food Fails: Conditioning Reinforcers in a Food-Aversive Learner Lindsay A.Wood. Think Behavior Consulting, Glen Allen, VA, USA |
Abstract
Food is often treated as the default primary reinforcer in animal training, yet some learners respond to food with avoidance, dropping, or spitting out offered items. These responses create challenges for behavior consultants attempting to establish reinforcement contingencies, countercondition aversive stimuli, or build new behavioral repertoires. This presentation examines a case in which food initially functioned poorly or aversively within training interactions and describes the process of identifying alternative reinforcers, arranging antecedent conditions to facilitate target behavior, and systematically rebuilding food as a functional reinforcer.
Using a case study of a young dog, this presentation outlines a practical framework for working with learners for whom food is not readily effective. Topics include identifying and leveraging nonfood reinforcers, using antecedent arrangement to increase success, building conditioned reinforcers, and strategically shaping food acceptance. Broader implications include reconsidering assumptions about reinforcer value and expanding reinforcement strategies through individualized, constructional intervention.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
Using a case study of a young dog, this presentation outlines a practical framework for working with learners for whom food is not readily effective. Topics include identifying and leveraging nonfood reinforcers, using antecedent arrangement to increase success, building conditioned reinforcers, and strategically shaping food acceptance. Broader implications include reconsidering assumptions about reinforcer value and expanding reinforcement strategies through individualized, constructional intervention.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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