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S**H
Great writer -- this book rescues her field
Karen Pryor is a terrific writer. This book is an excellent summary of the field of behavioral science, a field that is largely misunderstood. I certainly didn't appreciate its value until I read this truly excellent treatment of the topic.Before I read this book, I had a general bias against behaviorism. I had heard that some behavioral techniques had gotten good results for some types of mental problems, but it seemed inappropriate to apply such simplistic ideas to humans on a regular basis.Boy, was I wrong!Pryor explains in this slim, fun-to-read volume that behavioral science is real and important. Behavior has its own set of rules, and we are subject to them just as surely as we are subject to the laws of gravity (regardless of how well we understand either). Pryor understands these underlying principles very well, and has a wealth of knowledge about how to apply them.This short book covers so much!It provides an excellent overview of the laws that govern the behavior of all creatures.It gives us a short course in animal training, pointing out the differences among animals. (Training cats is very different from training dogs, training dolphins, Pryor's specialty, brings additional challenges, elephants are incredibly smart; there are some wonderful animal stories in this book.)And it's a really nice short course in how to apply the laws of behavior and the options for reinforcement to our own lives.Pryor makes it clear that much of our character and many of our actions are shaped NOT through language or understanding but through our experiences. Pryor's clear explication of exactly how this works gives us a new language to think with and to experiment with. It was really eye-opening to me. A better understanding of behavior and reinforcement gives us a whole new toolkit to explore.Both a realist and an optimist, Pryor writes absolutely delightful prose. It's uplifting and inspiring, which is pretty amazing for a book that also shows just how far we are from having a good shared understanding of this topic.This book makes a huge contribution toward rescuing an underappreciated body of knowledge.
B**S
For Dogs, Kids, Parents, Teachers, and Dolphins
Don't Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training is much more than a training book for pets or animals. It is a book that will teach you how to change your own behavior, your children's behavior, your pets behavior, or even a sea lion's behavior.This book came highly recommended to me, or I probably would never have picked it up. The title certainly makes it look like just a dog training book, and most of the examples do relate to animals. However, this quick read is also a goldmine of the two best kinds of information: valuable and practical.The purpose of this book is to convince you that positive reinforcement is the best way to shape behavior. Chapter 2 lays out 10 Rules for Shaping. "Shaping consists of taking a very small tendency in the right direction and shifting it, one small step at a time, toward an ultimate goal." (35) These rules can help you do a variety of things for yourself and others. The personal examples that the author lists through her experiences training marine animals and teaching students hold your attention and are varied enough to appeal to everyone.Chapter 4 lists the eight methods that you can use to change behavior (the first is Shoot The Dog). These methods are comprehensive and will help you think about how you react to everyone around you. Each of the eight methods include a chart detailing various problems and how to use each method to change them. The problems that are tackled include a dirty roommate, noisy kids on a car ride, lazy employees, a faulty tennis swing, a spouse's bad mood, an ornery cat, and adult children that aren't self-sufficient. Intensely practical problems . . . this chapter will change the way you think about raising your kids. Just being able to visually compare punishment with seven other methods of behavioral change is eye-opening. These eight methods were the highlight of the book for me and helped to shed light on how my reactions were reinforcing negative behavior in others. They are:Shoot the animalPunishmentNegative ReinforcementExtinctionTrain an incompatible behaviorPut the behavior on cueShape the absenceChange the motivationThe last two chapters detail more real world environments and how these lessons can be applied. The author also answers the objections raised by some that training is a form of brainwashing. She clearly lays out the facts in these chapters and shows that we are always training someone to do something. This book just helps us to be aware of how we are affecting others around us and what to do about it.This book is highly recommended. It is one that I will refer back to repeatedly in the future.
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