Lessons from Animals on How to Teach People belongs in serious BCBA study because it shapes whether behavior-analytic decisions stay useful once they leave a clean training example and enter language assessment, teaching sessions, caregiver coaching, and natural communication routines. In Lessons from Animals on How to Teach People, for this course, the practical stakes show up in clearer case conceptualization, better instructional targets, and stronger generalization, not in abstract discussion alone.
Provider: BehaviorLive — via Skinner Foundation
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Join Free →In Recent Issues in the Analysis of Behavior, Skinner (1989) revisits programmed instruction (Ch. 9), comparing and contrasting the training of animals to the teaching of people. He does this in part by invoking his 1951 paper, How to Teach Animals, which was consequently the first place he used the term 'shaping' (Fernandez & Martin, 2021; Peterson, 2004). In the following talk, I will detail some of the points made by Skinner, including the use of conditioned reinforcement, modelling, and operant conditioning itself to produce desired behavior. Of particular importance are the focus on behavior, the emphasis on the environment, and the avoidance of punishment (pun intended) to effectively create optimal learning. In essence, the focus of my talk will be about how training animals can teach us about teaching people. The two skills are necessarily reliant on the same learning principles.
| Certification Body | Credits | Type |
|---|---|---|
| BACB® | 1 | General |
Eduardo J. Fernandez is a Senior Lecturer of Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare in the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences at the University of Adelaide (Australia). He received his Ph.D. in Psychology (minors in Neuroscience and Animal Behavior) from Indiana University, where he worked with the Indianapolis and Cincinnati Zoo. He received his M.S. in Behavior Analysis from the University of North Texas, where he founded the Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals (ORCA). Most of his past and current work involves behavioral research applied to the welfare and training of zoo, aquarium, and companion animals. His past positions include a Visiting Professorship at Seattle Pacific University, a Visiting Professorship in the School of Behavior Analysis at the Florida Institute of Technology, an Affiliate Assistant Professorship in the Psychology Department at the University of Washington, a Research Fellowship with Woodland Park Zoo, and a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. While working with UW and the Woodland Park Zoo, he started the Behavioral Enrichment Animal Research (BEAR) group, which conducted welfare research with many of the species and exhibits located throughout the zoo. He currently runs the Operant Welfare Lab (OWL), which is dedicated to the use of learning principles to improve the lives of animals across many settings, including exotic animals in zoos and companion animals in homes and shelters. OWL is also part of the broader Animal Behaviour, Welfare, and Anthrozoology Lab (ABWAL; abwal.com). Many of Eduardo’s past publications, research projects, and presentations can be found on his ResearchGate profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eduardo_Fernandez18
Dig into the research behind this topic — plain-English summaries written for BCBAs.
280 research articles with practitioner takeaways
258 research articles with practitioner takeaways
256 research articles with practitioner takeaways
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