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Episode - 15 April 2020
Host: Barbara Heidenreich
Guest: Dr Joe Layng
Can positive reinforcement be coercive? Can negative reinforcement sometimes provide an animal with more control? And do hierarchies of behavior-change procedures really reflect how behavioral processes work?
This is an episode you may want to bookmark, reference, and listen to more than once. Dr. T.V. Joe Layng takes us deeper into behavioral science to explore why the procedure label alone doesn't tell us everything we need to know about what an animal is experiencing.
We discuss how degrees of freedom and critical consequences can help us understand when positive reinforcement may actually be coercive, and why behavior is often better understood by examining multiple interacting contingencies rather than relying on a simple linear analysis. Dr. Layng also explores what may be happening during procedures such as systematic desensitization and counterconditioning and how a Constructional Approach can offer a different way to think about behavior change.
We also dig into behaviors often described as “innate,” the role learning can play in their development, and why phrases such as “least intrusive, most positive” and hierarchies of behavior-change procedures may oversimplify the science.
If you're interested in going beyond the basics and taking a deeper look at the behavioral science behind practical animal training, there is a lot to unpack in this conversation. I also answer a listener question about harness training a coati.
Recommended Citation:
Heidenreich, B. (Producer/Writer). (2020, April 30). Dr Joe Layng: When R+ is Coercive and R- is Not. Forget Hierarchies! Behavioral Procedures are Nonlinear. [Audio Podcast]. Animal Training Fundamentals with Barbara Heidenreich. https://animaltrainingfundamentals.com/podcasts/dr-joe-layng/
Links to Resources from Dr Joe Layng Mentioned in the Podcast:
Click Here to Subscribe to Operants Magazine from the BF Skinner Foundation -This is a free digital publication. Dr Layng's article will be featured in the second quarterly issue of 2020.
Synopsis of Dr Joe Layng's Presentation "Coercion without Aversive Stimuli" from the Art and Science of Animal Training Conference
Guest Bio:
Dr. Joe Layng co-founded Headsprout, which was acquired by Newell-Rubbermaid in the Spring of 2011 and merged into its interactive teaching technologies company, DYMO|Mimio. He currently serves as DYMO|Mimio –Headsprout’s director of learning sciences. Dr. Layng led the scientific team that developed Headsprout’s patented Sprout Learning™ technology. This technology forms the basis of the company’s Headsprout® Early Reading and Reading Comprehension programs, for which Dr. Layng was the chief architect.
Dr. Layng earned a Ph.D. in Behavioral Science (Biopsychology) from the University of Chicago, where he collaborated on research, working with pigeons, investigating the adduction of untrained complex symbolic behavior from simpler behavioral components, which led to some of the key elements upon which the Headsprout Sprout Learning™ technology is based. Also working with pigeons Dr. Layng investigated animal models of psychopathology, specifically the recurrence of pathological patterns (head-banging) as a function of normal behavioral processes. Dr. Layng has more than 35 years of experience in the experimental and applied learning sciences with a particular focus on the design of instruction. From 1991 to 1996, he was the director of the Academic Support Center, and then dean of Public Agency and Special Training Programs at Malcolm X College in Chicago. In 1992, Dr. Layng co-authored the seminal paper on Generative Instruction, which appeared in the American Psychologist. Dr. Layng has also extensive clinical experience and is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
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About Barbara Heidenreich
Barbara Heidenreich is a zoologist and animal training and behavior consultant specializing in species managed in zoological facilities. She earned her B.S. in Zoology from the University of California, Davis. Barbara consults internationally with zoos, universities, veterinary professionals, and conservation programs and has worked onsite with more than 90 facilities in 30 countries.
In addition to her consulting work, Barbara serves as an Adjunct Instructor at Texas A&M University and operates AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com, a comprehensive online education program offering hundreds of courses on animal training and behavior. Her work focuses on applying behavior analysis to improve animal welfare through building behavior, contingency analysis, genuine choice, and constructional approaches to behavior change.
Barbara has authored two books, contributed to five textbooks, and co-authored two Fear Free® Avian Certification Courses. She advises the Animal Training Working Group and Parrot Taxon Advisory Group for the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria and serves as Co-Chair and founding member of the Zoological Association of America’s Animal Training Committee. She has contributed to conservation projects including the Kakapo Recovery Program and the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation and has received seven awards from zoological trade organizations recognizing her contributions to the field.
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