{"id":78,"date":"2013-10-29T04:31:33","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T04:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/?p=78"},"modified":"2014-03-02T09:12:14","modified_gmt":"2014-03-02T09:12:14","slug":"all-positive-trainers-illogical-to-say-the-least","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/?p=78","title":{"rendered":"All Positive Trainers: Illogical, to say the least."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Lewis Carrol wrote Alice in Wonderland. He was also a mathematics professor and lecturer. One of <a id=\"irc_mil\" href=\"\/url?sa=i&amp;source=images&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;docid=1M3hlwoGjC2ycM&amp;tbnid=8i7geI4UFkqLCM:&amp;ved=0CAgQjRwwAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.last.fm%2Fmusic%2FLewis%2BCarroll&amp;ei=1D1vUqrqMuqGyAGv84HwBA&amp;psig=AFQjCNHCngDDHW48XaL6OESm9ynt5auEnA&amp;ust=1383108436894244\" data-ved=\"0CAgQjRwwAA\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" id=\"irc_mi\" style=\"width: 184px; height: 253px;\" alt=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/userserve-ak.last.fm\/serve\/_\/402110\/Lewis+Carroll.jpg\" width=\"325\" height=\"484\" \/><\/a>his least known but incredibly interesting books is about logic, specifically syllogisms. Here&#8217;s an example of how Dr. Dodgson (his real name) used fantasy to teach a little used mental tool \u2013 logic.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">Babies are illogical; <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">Nobody is despised who can manage a crocodile; <\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">Illogical persons are despised. <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\"><em><strong>Logical conclusion:<\/strong> Babies cannot manage a crocodile.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><!--more--><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">My saucepans are the only things that I have that are made of tin; <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">I find all your presents very useful; <\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">None of my saucepans are of the slightest use. <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\"><em><strong>Logical Conclusion:<\/strong> You have never given me a tin saucepan.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">No potatoes of mine, that are new, have been boiled;<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">All of my potatoes in this dish are fit to eat;<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">No unboiled potatoes of mine are fit to eat. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\"><em><strong>Logical Conclusion:<\/strong> The potatoes on this plate are not new.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">No ducks waltz; <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">No officers ever decline to waltz; <\/span><\/li>\n<li>\n<div><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\">All my poultry are ducks. <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: black; font-size: 12pt;\"><em><strong>Logical Conclusion:<\/strong> My ducks are not officers.<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here&#8217;s how Carrol\/Dodgson would have created a puzzle out of modern dog training ideology.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Leashes punish;<br \/>\nNo &#8220;all positive&#8221; trainers use leashes;<br \/>\nAll trainers use leashes.<br \/>\n<em><em><strong>Logical Conclusion:<\/strong> There are no trainers who are &#8220;all positive&#8221;.<\/em><\/em>Pretty clear, now, isn&#8217;t it? The rhetoric of &#8220;all positive&#8221; trainers is just that \u2013 words intended to persuade rather than to explain or define. They all use leashes. Leashes punish a dog&#8217;s free movement and autonomy. Leashes also negatively reinforce an arbitrary proximity to the handler. i.e. Those are examples of aversive control. Here&#8217;s another little syllogism for you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8211;B.F. Skinner opposed the use of aversive control throughout his career.<br \/>\n&#8211;Effective behavioral control requires aversive control to stop or inhibit behavior.<br \/>\n&#8211;B.F. Skinner created what is now called &#8220;learning theory.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Logical Conclusion:<\/strong> No one who uses &#8220;learning theory&#8221; offers effective behavioral control.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8230;and a final one to keep your mind sharp.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Modern trainers and behaviorists claim to use scientific principles to guide their methods;<br \/>\n&#8211;Science confirms that to stop a behavior, especially aggression, the correct tool is punishment; <em>(Ulrich, Wolfe &amp; Dulaney, JEAB, 1969, Punishment of Shock Induced Aggression)<\/em><br \/>\n&#8211;Modern trainers and behaviorists do not use punishment to stop aggression.<br \/>\n<em><strong>Logical Conclusion:<\/strong> Modern Trainers and Behaviorists do not use scientific methods.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you have followed the process the conclusions are pretty clear.\u00a0To believe in &#8220;all positive&#8221; training one must never use aversive control \u2013 but they all do. That is because they use time-outs\u2026withholding desirable experiences to reduce unwanted behavior. That is a clear example of <em>negative punishment<\/em>. They also use leashes. Leashes punish an animal&#8217;s desire to go where they want to. Every time a dog bumps up against a leash they are being punished. If the animal inhibits bumping up against the leash it is an example of <em>positive punishment<\/em>. As I stated in my syllogism, ALL trainers use leashes. All trainers use some form of punishment. So, how can one contradict this simple logic? They distort the language to create illogical arguments. Specifically, they twist the definition of the word punishment. In their lexicon it means &#8220;abuse&#8221;. That is clearly unscientific. The scientific definition of punishment does not imply abuse. It does not imply nasty, dangerous, painful or traumatic, either. When you refrain from stepping into a heavy rain storm you are demonstrating an inhibition created by past punishment. When you put up your collar to protect your neck from a cold, hard wind, you are showing previous negative reinforcement. How are these influences bad? i.e. Aversive control is a normal and incredibly important part of learning to survive on planet Earth. It causes you to hold still and not walk in front of a bus. It teaches you how to hold and use a knife without cutting your fingers off. For dogs, it is critical that they experience aversive control to teach them to live with people. They must not bite people, destroy things or jump\u00a0on ancient aunts who come to visit.\u00a0To suggest that there is some benefit to the fantasy of &#8220;all positive&#8221; training is as illogical as having a baby manage a crocodile or, if you are a fan of Lewis Carrol, as illogical as hunting a Snark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lewis Carrol wrote Alice in Wonderland. He was also a mathematics professor and lecturer. One of his least known but incredibly interesting books is about logic, specifically syllogisms. Here&#8217;s an example of how Dr. Dodgson (his real name) used fantasy to teach a little used mental tool \u2013 logic. Babies are illogical; Nobody is despised who can manage a crocodile; Illogical persons are despised. Logical conclusion: Babies cannot manage a crocodile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-78","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-behavior-modification-and-training","category-science-behavior-and-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78\/revisions\/228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickandtreat.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}