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Dog Training using
Operant Conditioning
| Project
Specifications |
| Age group:
Grade 4 to 6 |
Team size:
2 people
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| Subject
area: Biology |
| Project
type: Experimental |
| Project
level: Standard |
| By Myles
Linder and Jamie Harper |
SUMMARY:
This experiment is a study on the use of operant
conditioning principles for dog training. We investigated how to train
a young wheaten terrier to come consistently to a high pitched whistle
that is inaudible to the human ear. We used the naturally
occurring response of a dog coming to its owner (response). We
selected a food treat as a positive consequence (stimulus). A
preceding stimulus was the verbal command of “come” ( S1) paired
with the sound of the whistle (S2). The “come” command was later
removed and replaced by a whistle. We investigated two field settings:
inside and outside a home. These settings were different in the
variables that were controlled. Ten trials of the training were
conducted in each setting.
The data
supported our hypotheses. The dog learned to respond to only the sound
of the whistle. The dog did show operant learning as he returned to the
experimenter on each trial, in each setting. The reward acted as a
consequence to his behaviour and reinforced his coming to the
experimenter. The dog did perform better inside the home where more
variables were controlled. We concluded that our experiment did
show operant learning with a dog.
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