rosebreasted cockatoos

Positive reinforcement: the addition of something in a bird’s environment that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated.

Negative reinforcement: the deletion of something in the environment that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated.

That’s all – there are no implications of good or bad, right or wrong. One does not mean reward and the other punishment.

Your bird performs a trick or task. Upon completion, you immediately click, and then deliver a favorite treat. Positive reinforcement. You have added food to the bird’s environment. Your ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Camelot Macaws

We’ve had a lot of fun training our parrots for the Ringling Circus shows. Out of the 9 birds we brought along with us on the road, we have 5 currently in the show as of dress rehearsals on December 20th. Our goal is to be able to have all the birds do the show, so that they get plenty of days off! This way we can rotate who does which show.

The first birds we implemented into the show were our camelot macaws. We chose them for the opening ...

Read the rest or post a comment »

Hyacinth Macaw

I was talking to a lady at work who was telling me that she was beginning to train her new Boston terrier puppy.  I asked her how she intended to train it: “Oh, definitely with positive reinforcement, I would never punish a dog!”  As she continued to talk, I realized that she took punishment to be the opposite of positive reinforcement.  A lot of people make this same mistake.

The misconception seems to come from the words positive and negative and people’s misunderstanding of the word reinforcement.

First, a reinforcement is ...

Read the rest or post a comment »