The Secret Life of the If/Then Contingency

This badge signifies completion of the course The Secret Life of the If/Then Contingency: Six Hidden Ways the 4 Quadrants are Impacting your Training. In this course animal care professionals learn that training is predominantly focused on using positive reinforcement to increase desired responses. However positive reinforcement can also be responsible for increasing undesired behaviors, for example some repetitive behaviors. Even within training sessions in which positive reinforcement is used, other contingencies are often unnoticed but at work helping to influence behavior. These other contingencies, in addition to positive reinforcement, include negative reinforcement, negative punishment, and positive punishment. These four contingencies are also at work 24-7 influencing behavior in ways that can contribute to desired responses or undesired responses. A closer look reveals these contingencies may be the reason some behavior problems are persisting and/or the reason other behavior goals are successfully reached. This course explore examples in which all the contingencies are revealed to provide a better understanding of how the four quadrants can be a part of improving animal welfare. Once you complete the course,  fill out the form to submit your request for admin to review and issue your badge.