Over the weekend I read an article in the Personal Tech section of the New York Times regarding unique bracelets that act as tracking devices for activities such as: how active you are, how much money you spend, how much time you are vegging out in front of the TV. This is all in an effort to make you aware of your “bad” habits so that you can well, correct them. And get this, you can even share how you are doing with your friends in a sort of I am doing better (hopefully) than you are, with the idea being that this will keep you and your friends motivated to push onward.
While technology can become too much of a looming presence in our lives, I have to say that I am kind of intrigued as to how such specific data can be tracked. But most importantly how can this sort of mega-awareness of one’s habits really help us change these habits? Now don’t get me wrong, the idea of having alarms go off when I am in the middle of a shopping spree scares the heck out of me. However, I would be curious to see how I chose to spend my time. Is it spent wisely, recklessly or balanced?
But, here is my spin on these tracking bracelets. How about if we could have a different type of tracking bracelet. The one I would design would actually be VERY hip, one that has options so that you can wear it with anything from a sporty outfit to a more formal affair. It is kind of a girly-girly design with an obvious touch of modernist aesthetics. Yes, I would also design something cool that guys can wear too. Besides making a fashion statement, these bracelets would more importantly track the times per day that we reinforce our dog cat, bird, horse, etc. (people, you are welcome to use one too!) for “good” behavior. For example, choosing to have your dog be entertained with a Kong instead of chewing on your coffee table and for ANY and all behaviors that you like.
I reeaally think that I am on to something here… the thing is this: the laws of learning state that whatever behavior is reinforced (reinforcement defined as: the process by which a consequence increases the strength of the behavior it follows) will increase the probability of the behavior taking place. Reinforcement could be either positive reinforcement (something the animal wants or would work for) or negative reinforcement (the contingent removal of a stimulus immediately following a behavior which will increase the future strength of the behavior).
Now noticed that I said the laws of learning so this is not just an opinion. And for something to qualify as lawful it means that it has been tested over and over again and received the same results. In the case of animal learning, there have been years of experiments and studies with over 200 different species of learners under laboratory (controlled) conditions, as well as non-controlled environment such as your household or mine.
Now back to my idea of the bracelet device. I think that if you and me would choose to wear one of these devices, we could become much more aware about what our animals are doing “right” from our (human) perspective and we would then be even more inclined to offer positive reinforcement. As we've just been made aware of our pet’s actions, and because we love our animals dearly, we understand how learning and reinforcement works so that we can reinforce all that we want to see more of!
Brilliant device, brilliant way to finally reach our goals of having a pet that is wonderful to live with and a pet that is super happy and thriving because he/she is being acknowledged for engaging in the not so natural behaviors that living in our world demands of them.
On a more serious note, think about this. How many gazillions of times do our animals do the “right” thing and it does not get acknowledge (reinforced) mainly because we are all either too busy to do so or just plain ignorant of the facts regarding how behavior and the laws of learning work? Reinforcing is difficult for all of us- even those of whom make a living at it. But the good news is that it does not have to be an all or nothing situation! We can commit - bracelet in tow or not - to become more mindful of our interactions with our animals. We can choose – and this choice is made daily… day by day to acknowledge what we'd love for them to do more of, and either manage, ignore or modify what we cannot accept to live with. Perhaps we will not reinforce every incident but we most definitely can up the ante.
So here is my proposition for you: think about one behavior that you would love to see your animal do more of. Perhaps is more quite time on his favorite bed, or less barking, more snuggle time with you… Deuce can you hear me? And begin to reinforce that one behavior.
See what happens. As this behavior becomes stronger you will be more inclined in sticking with a daily and robust program of reinforcement for your dog.
While technology can become too much of a looming presence in our lives, I have to say that I am kind of intrigued as to how such specific data can be tracked. But most importantly how can this sort of mega-awareness of one’s habits really help us change these habits? Now don’t get me wrong, the idea of having alarms go off when I am in the middle of a shopping spree scares the heck out of me. However, I would be curious to see how I chose to spend my time. Is it spent wisely, recklessly or balanced?
But, here is my spin on these tracking bracelets. How about if we could have a different type of tracking bracelet. The one I would design would actually be VERY hip, one that has options so that you can wear it with anything from a sporty outfit to a more formal affair. It is kind of a girly-girly design with an obvious touch of modernist aesthetics. Yes, I would also design something cool that guys can wear too. Besides making a fashion statement, these bracelets would more importantly track the times per day that we reinforce our dog cat, bird, horse, etc. (people, you are welcome to use one too!) for “good” behavior. For example, choosing to have your dog be entertained with a Kong instead of chewing on your coffee table and for ANY and all behaviors that you like.
I reeaally think that I am on to something here… the thing is this: the laws of learning state that whatever behavior is reinforced (reinforcement defined as: the process by which a consequence increases the strength of the behavior it follows) will increase the probability of the behavior taking place. Reinforcement could be either positive reinforcement (something the animal wants or would work for) or negative reinforcement (the contingent removal of a stimulus immediately following a behavior which will increase the future strength of the behavior).
Now noticed that I said the laws of learning so this is not just an opinion. And for something to qualify as lawful it means that it has been tested over and over again and received the same results. In the case of animal learning, there have been years of experiments and studies with over 200 different species of learners under laboratory (controlled) conditions, as well as non-controlled environment such as your household or mine.
Now back to my idea of the bracelet device. I think that if you and me would choose to wear one of these devices, we could become much more aware about what our animals are doing “right” from our (human) perspective and we would then be even more inclined to offer positive reinforcement. As we've just been made aware of our pet’s actions, and because we love our animals dearly, we understand how learning and reinforcement works so that we can reinforce all that we want to see more of!
Brilliant device, brilliant way to finally reach our goals of having a pet that is wonderful to live with and a pet that is super happy and thriving because he/she is being acknowledged for engaging in the not so natural behaviors that living in our world demands of them.
On a more serious note, think about this. How many gazillions of times do our animals do the “right” thing and it does not get acknowledge (reinforced) mainly because we are all either too busy to do so or just plain ignorant of the facts regarding how behavior and the laws of learning work? Reinforcing is difficult for all of us- even those of whom make a living at it. But the good news is that it does not have to be an all or nothing situation! We can commit - bracelet in tow or not - to become more mindful of our interactions with our animals. We can choose – and this choice is made daily… day by day to acknowledge what we'd love for them to do more of, and either manage, ignore or modify what we cannot accept to live with. Perhaps we will not reinforce every incident but we most definitely can up the ante.
So here is my proposition for you: think about one behavior that you would love to see your animal do more of. Perhaps is more quite time on his favorite bed, or less barking, more snuggle time with you… Deuce can you hear me? And begin to reinforce that one behavior.
See what happens. As this behavior becomes stronger you will be more inclined in sticking with a daily and robust program of reinforcement for your dog.
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