Association in Pavlov’s Lab
The tinkling of a bell was a neutral stimulus to the dogs in Ivan Pavlov’s lab. It was just background noise with no meaning, no different from the sounds of carriages passing on the street or human voices discussing next steps in the research. The dogs had no association with the sound of a bell.
The lab team was studying salivation in dogs. The researchers noticed that the dogs began to salivate at times when there was no obvious sign of a meal being prepared. Being scientists, they controlled what was happening and carefully observed their canine subjects. They discovered that when the sound of a bell was strongly paired with food, the bell was no longer neutral. The bell became a powerful stimulus eliciting salivation, with no food anywhere near!
The test was repeatable with a metronome and other sounds, and even with visual stimuli like someone in a lab coat entering the room. Essentially, formerly meaningless stimuli caused salivation just like food did.
Everyday Associations for Pets
That was the basis of Pavlov’s discovery of Classical Conditioning, a.k.a. Association, a.k.a. Pavlovian Conditioning. We take it for granted now. A dog going to the vet’s office is often expected to have a bad experience and behave poorly, for instance. People seem to understand that when bad things happen (injections, blood tests), pets associate their fears and defensiveness with the event, learning to fear the vet’s office and everything in it. Bingo! That’s association.
We don’t have to allow bad associations to occur. Just as in Pavlov’s lab, we can pair neutral stimuli with good things BEFORE they elicit bad feelings for pets. Many pets happily anticipate a visit to the vet. Why? Because the vet’s office is neutral in the beginning. Pet parents can purposefully provide opportunities for good associations with the office, the people in it, and the procedures that make up the examination and treatments. These associations can be developed through preparation at home and careful practice visits with lots of treats.
The power of association is often overlooked in animal training. Yet, animals are constantly developing associations between their emotions and all the various factors in their environments. As trainers, we have the power to facilitate associations that are useful to ourselves and our animals.
Examples of the Power of Association
Our pets appear to love us and seek us out for affection and companionship, but when we first bring a new pet home, we don’t yet have a relationship that allows that. When we train them using play and treat rewards, we are associating ourselves as well as all other aspects of the training environment with the enjoyment of those opportunities. That’s why training animals tends to result in closer relationships and increased bonding.
Facilitate Associations You Want
The best way to go about ensuring that NO bad experiences are linked to a new place or event is to link the location and event to something good, from the very beginning. That’s why my recommendation is to pair treats and play with everything.
In the beginning, with a new pet, you can pair a treat with a loud noise, entering a new area, meeting a new human, and more. Doing so helps develop a pet’s confidence and calm responses to these stimuli in the future.
Your pet is learning all the time. The best approach is to be observant, notice something new that your pet might perceive as scary or unsafe, and give treats throughout that experience. That means as you approach a new location, experience a new event, and even through the process of leaving.
The idea is that you are constantly shifting the animal’s response toward positive. It’s not safe to assume that his response is neutral, especially when your relationship with him is still new. It’s too hard to tell whether he might be leaning toward a negative response without your knowledge.
What is Your Pet Learning Right Now?
Animals are learning all the time. Even when you’re not actively training, your pet continues to learn from the environment. All those hours while you’re at work, your pet is not in a vacuum. The environment is changing, things are happening, and your pet is responding. Does he feel safe? Is he making positive associations? Prepare him by teaching relaxation through association with short absences. Leave food puzzles, comfortable bedding, and favorite toys available when he’s home alone.
Behaviors are Always Developing
As a trainer, I often hear that unwanted behaviors “suddenly occurred, with no warning.” This is not true. These pet parents missed important signs. They didn’t understand their pets’ body language or the power of association.
One example is dogs who “suddenly” start barking at people walking by the car they’re in. The owner missed the opportunity to pair the stimulus of a person near the car with treats. This dog probably wasn’t showing friendly body language or curiosity about people outside the car. The dog may have been keeping his distance or had his ears and tail lowered or his face tense. He may have been licking his lips, showing stress rather than curiosity, and the owner didn’t know what to look for. This is where the association between people outside the car and feelings of fear and anxiety began.
Association Can Lead to Operant Conditioning
The dog was scared by people outside the car. The dog felt threatened and the resulting stress caused his behavior to change. Barking at people came naturally as he relied on his natural defense mechanisms, and it made him feel better. The dog may have learned that barking made people move away from him.
This is an example of learning that began with association and was supplemented by operant conditioning, or learning from the consequences of behavior choices. Barking led to people going away, and thus the source of the fear decreasing, so barking “worked” to solve the dog’s problem. He will bark more at people outside his car in the future.
Behavior is always developing; it is never stagnant. Association and operant conditioning (learning from consequences) are both powerful mechanisms. Association is happening while operant conditioning is going on. This is one reason positive reinforcement training is best – no bad experiences, no bad associations to carry forward.
Changing Fears Takes More Focus
Starting with a stimulus that an animal has already associated with feelings of fear requires focused effort to change. Dogs that are fearful of humans seem to be common these days. Pairing a scary human with food is definitely a good plan, but the human should toss the food away from themselves as soon as the dog takes a step toward them. Why? Because that’s the point at which the association is teetering on the edge between negative and positive. It may actually be neutral for a moment. We have a chance to shift it toward positive.
Imagine for yourself, being asked to move closer to something that is very scary to you. One example may be a spider or snake. Even if you are guaranteed that the animal is safely contained, getting close to it might be too much. It would probably help you to be able to take just a few steps toward the scary creature and then immediately retreat. Having a chance to take a short break might provide the confidence to repeat the action. Whereas, being enticed or pressured to go the whole distance at once might be overwhelming – even if the pressure came from being offered a lure or bribe that you really wanted.
Both kinds of learning are always working together. Once the dog gets close to the human, he’s entered the zone in which he feels threatened and the old association takes over. The change must be facilitated before the stimulus becomes stressful when we’re trying to change an already-negative association.
Associations are Happening All the Time
Often, humans are not thinking about the associations an animal is making with each step of a process. In many cases, the human’s goal is to capture the animal at all costs. The animal may need medical attention or to get into a safer environment, so concern is understandable. However, every experience feeds the next; they’re learning all the time. Grabbing an animal may startle him, which is another way to say “scare the pants off him,” and the animal will learn to avoid being grabbed. Humans may be afraid to let a fearful dog back away once he has approached. But allowing learning to occur through association can help the animal build a positive association with the human that will aid his future care.
Training the Wild Ones
Wild animals need training to live in human-centered environments like zoos and sanctuaries. Training helps them maintain their natural behaviors while allowing humans to care for their needs. Associations are a powerful component, as they are of all training. Check out some of Barbara Heidenreich’s work for further information.
Wild animals, unlike domestic dogs, were not selectively bred for their compatibility with humans. For animals living in the wild, humans may be a neutral stimulus. If so, a positive association can be made fairly quickly. For animals in zoos, there may be a negative association already present, so change may be a little slower. With a training plan in place, it can be done.
The goal is not to get a wild animal to become a cuddly lap pet. Training through association can result in the animal readily volunteering to move from one location to another, enter a travel cage, or extend a leg for a medical treatment. One way this is achieved is by focusing on just having the human present while the animal learns positive associations with locations and behaviors by receiving food. Through this process, the humans are part of the environment and they, too, are associated with positive things. Associations tend to encompass everything and everyone present during the process.
Phung Luu is a highly accomplished trainer of wild birds. Although the birds he trains are captive, they live in a sanctuary setting with high-quality enrichment and are trained to fly free and return to safety. Phung knows his behavior science and explains it in an understandable way. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing him speak a few times and I always learn something.
Reptiles Learn by Association, Too
All animals learn through association and operant conditioning. An animal doesn’t have to be particularly “smart” – in fact, intelligence tests are fraught with problems. Animals are born to learn. If they don’t, they don’t survive. In this short video, the crocodile is learning to associate the presence of the trainer, the stick, and a specific word – her name – with good things. This allows easier handling and care.
Just for fun, one more reptile training video!
Training in the Wild
Don’t kid yourself – you don’t have to put animals in enclosures to train them. It’s safer to do so, for sure; but animals volunteer to participate in training all the time. Hans Forsberg has a number of videos showing exactly how he trained wild magpies to trade trash for food, and associations were a big part of this process.
I have a colleague in California who routinely sets up puzzles in her backyard for wild crows. Over a few years, her crow population has increased as couples formed, reproduced, and chose to bring their broods to work the puzzles for food. You, too, could be training wild birds in your backyard!
Common Negative Associations
Many dogs are distressed when their owners leave. This is a negative association. Modifying separation distress focuses specifically on adjusting the dog’s emotional state in association with the absence of his owner. That’s how powerful association is. Separation training is not about having the dog do something to earn a reward; it is teaching him that he is safe when he’s alone. It’s almost purely Pavlovian.
Associations are Everywhere
What associations can you think of that impact your life, whether your own associations or those of your pets?
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