REINFORCING INTRODUCED BEHAVIORAL CHANGES
by Birdman


A parrot behavior consultant seldom encounters birds that completely resist behavioral change. The vast majority of birds usually respond to predictable environmental or handling manipulations: rewards, bathing, eye games, step-up training, petting, exercises, etc.
Often, the behavior consultant is asked to modify what is described as a behavioral nightmare. The bird may be called "Freddie Kruger" or "The Evil One". The bird may be said to be so skittish that the owners fear it will thrash about and injure itself.
What I usually find is a normal, perhaps stubborn animal who is simply giving off incomprehensible behavioral messages. The bird may be poorly socialized or slightly socialized - possibly in an inappropriate or understimulating environment. In the presence of professional sensitivity and behavioral techniques that have been around for years, most of the birds I see behave like little angels. Because the behavioral professional seldom sees the bird 's worst behavior, the success of the intervention depends upon a successful partnership with the owners (who are well aware of how the bird usually acts) serving as the primary mechanism for observing and reporting the bird's true behavior.
A behavior modification session, conducted in a calm but festive manner in the presence of shared food, verbal caresses, mists of water, silliness, and snuggly towel cuddling usually demonstrates - within a very short time - a responsive, cooperative animal. The owners are often stunned, moved to tears and comments that they "don't recognize" or "don't know" that creature responding so compliantly to tried and proven methods.
ARE THE CHANGES PERMANENT?
Possibly. Even step-ups are only a "quick-fix" if they are done only by the behavior consultant. You probably have a window of opportunity of two to four days to reinforce the changes. If the bird returns to exactly the same physical and behavioral environment, the behavior will return to what it was before.
Actually, few behavioral changes can be described as "permanent", for behavior evolves with time, changing - sometimes subtly, sometimes dramatically - over the years. Even behavioral changes in humans aren't usually "permanent" and most changes that become "permanent" start out "temporary".
Any human behavioral counselor, especially an addictions counselor, can tell you that the hardest change to bring about is the first one. A human counselor will also readily admit that just because someone discontinues a well-entrenched habit for one day or one week doesn't mean that person's behavior is permanently changed. On-going support and reinforcement are considered necessary to bring about real, long term behavioral change.
Bird behavior isn't usually immediately "permanently" changed by behavioral intervention either, but the benefit of immediate changes being demonstrated can be the turning point in the attitudes of humans who create the bird's environment. Because it is difficult to change human behavior, "quick fixes" used to demonstrate what a companion bird is capable of may be the best way to convince humans that if they change their ways, the bird's behavior will also change. That's a bigger 'IF' than it sounds. It's a real temptation to train the bird and stop; but if humans are not adequately trained, the intervention may be unsuccessful even though the bird responded perfectly.
Verbal Rewards: Molding A Parrot's Behavior with Praise
A few summers ago, a tall, shy man, brought his baby cockatiel to me for "taming". The bird was a parent-raised pearl hen of exceptionally charming demeanor. The owner was unsuccessfully trying to teach her to enjoy interactions with his hands. She would not step up or allow petting. Seeking to scratch the little bird's neck, the tall man would quietly, stiffly reach out to touch her; and she would bite him.
I said, "Talk to her the way you talk to your wife. Tell her that she's pretty and that you love her and want her to be happy."
He gave me a strange look, then practiced whispering sweet nothin's to the little bird who just seemed to melt in his hands, learning not only to step up, but also to be petted in somewhat less than half an hour.
A few weeks later, bird and owner returned for a grooming lesson. The little cockatiel was sweet, tame, and affectionate. The man looked even taller than before. When I commented on the changes - the well reinforced step up-response, etc. - the happy cockatiel owner grinned and said, "If you think that's something, you should see the change in my wife!"
This astute client had learned that verbal reinforcement (praise) in anticipation of good behavior (cooperation) is one of the strongest tools available in the modification of behavior in any creature. He had used this tool to initiate and reinforce quickly-generated behaviors in his cockatiel. He had also successfully applied this technique to improve a human relationship.
While wives, lovers, and baby hen cockatiels obviously respond well to verbal praise, even the wickedest, wildest parrot (or human) can respond to conscientious application of this technique. Actually, it's quite common to accidentally reinforce behavior, especially in a creature that is looking for any kind of attention (reward). A normal, creative parrot trained to anticipate praise (reward) for good behavior usually becomes more willing to seek new ways to generate rewards. The bird will also gradually abandon behaviors that do not bring at least occasional reinforcement.
Training with verbal rewards may sound subtle, but the results can be spectacular. This is absolutely the easiest way to train a bird. It is often successfully employed even though humans may be unaware of what they are doing. A "verbal praise" style of training might be more commonly used naturally or as a matter of conditioning by females and may contribute to the large number of companion parrots that favor females.
WHat about FOOD REWARDS?
Food is more important to some birds than to others. I like to spend the first half hour of the in-home evaluation watching what the bird and humans do while sharing pizza. Many socially bonded birds will begin either begging or eating before the pizza box is opened or placed on the table. This is expected behavior in established companion Amazons, macaws, and conures - birds with a reputation for being easily enticed and reinforced with food.
But food rewards might not be in the bird's best interest. Several popular types of parrots have a tendency to become overweight and develop related health problems if food, especially high fat human junk food, is given often. Food rewards must be carefully monitored to ensure that they contribute to good physical, as well as emotional, well being.
Many birds don't appear to be motivated by food at all. Some stubborn individuals might have to be half starved before they will take food from the human hand and eat it. While a few of these birds are demonstrating alienation, the overwhelming majority, especially cockatoos and many domestic handfeds are simply so crazy about people that they would rather play or cuddle rather than eat when humans are present.
Cockatoos have a frequent tendency to this play-rather-than-eat behavior. Many cockatoos would rather have face-to-face interaction such as being held or talked to than side-by-side interaction such as eating together. Training or correcting problem behaviors in these birds sometimes proves more difficult for new parrot owners because there is so little instruction available in the use of non-food rewards as a behavior modification tool. I suspect this situation exists not because food rewards are more effective, but rather because non-food rewards are so difficult to explain.
The set up
The first step to molding a bird's behavior with verbal rewards is to teach the bird the meaning of "good bird". Most birds respond emotionally to melodious voices in soothing tones. Teaching a bird the meaning of the words "good bird" usually comes very naturally as a soothing, cooing intonation usually conveys the meaning quite effectively. The bird may pinpoint or display in response to this type of verbal caress. Then the "good bird" verbal reward can be used any time the bird is engaging in appropriate behavior or any time the bird is not engaging in inappropriate behavior.
Be careful not to overdo verbal praise, for too much adoration can come to seem like a courtship song to a sex-starved companion parrot. If strutting, pinpointing, tail-fanning sexual displays are frequently reinforced, we might wind up with a beautiful little "fire breathing dragon" who often bites, regurgitates, and masturbates.
ANTICIPATION
In the past few years, I have come to believe that it is undesirable to use negative terms such as "bad bird", especially when we are prompting to step up. If we want the bird to do something, it's very confusing to be saying both "step-up" and "no" or "bad bird"at the same time. I prefer to use the words "good bird" to both reinforce appropriate behavior and to prevent inappropriate behavior. A sensitive owner can see a bite or a screaming fit coming, but no amount of yelling "Bad Bird!" will stop a bird from screaming (actually, it might reinforce the screaming). On the other hand, a calm, authoritative demeanor combined with a stern verbal reminder "You'd better be a good bird!" will remind the feathered companion not only that you are the boss, but also that good things come to good birds!
a sense of authority
It is not unusual for a bird to abuse a human who talks sweetly but fails to reinforce an effective authority-based relationship. If the bird doesn't see a particular human as dominant, then that human might be treated as territory, possession, or rival.
I believe that a successful relationship between human and companion bird casts the human in the role of loving parent. Because parrots have a strong instinct to understand what is expected, a loving authority-based relationship is probably the best way to maintain a long-term relationship between human and parrot. This is easily accomplished with the frequent (most days) practice of the step-up command which functions in the bird's emotional and behavioral environment much like prayer or meditation to a human.
Just as parrots who favor females may be responding to a particular style of reinforcement, parrots who favor males may be expressing an attraction to stolid body language and successful use of authority. The bird's behavior is changed by coaching the human client either to improve nurturing or effective authority interactions.
While one bird might respond better to more snuggles and praise, another bird might respond to more authority. In most cases, however, both behavioral tools must be balanced in order for the companion parrot to effectively maintain acceptable-to-humans behavior throughout its long life. Without loving reinforcement, the use of authority is inappropriate and usually ineffective. Without authority, the loving reinforcement might not be enough.
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