Excel-Erated Learning by Pamela Reid, PhD.
Review written by Jessi S. Clark-White
$16.95, James and Kenneth Publishers
172 pages, soft cover
An excellent book on reinforcement and learning theory, written specifically for dog owners and trainers. Although it lacks Karen Pryor’s polished writing, and sometimes seems to be an attempted rewrite of Don’t Shoot the Dog, this useful book covers many subjects that Don’t Shoot the Dog doesn’t explain.
This is a scientific and thorough look at all aspects of canine learning, explaining both operant and classical conditioning and how to use them effectively. Not strictly a motivational training book, it covers everything from clicker training to punishment and negative reinforcement clearly and objectively.
This is an excellent book which breaks away from the tradition of presenting a method and saying, “This is the best way.” Reid simply explains in detail the many ways dogs learn and lets the reader decide what will work the best in any given situation.
She starts by explaining the terms used in the book, then moves on to classical conditioning: what it is, how it works, and how to use it. The next subject is operant conditioning and its many faces: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment (no, that isn’t a misprint!), and negative punishment.
If you’ve always thought that classical conditioning meant traditional, compulsion-oriented training and operant conditioning was “all that motivational stuff”, this book will dispel that myth once and for all.
The next section covers other factors which affect learning such as habituation, sensitization, adaptation, learned irrelevance, primary and secondary reinforcers, reinforcement schedules, stimulus control, discrimination and generalization, and much more. Among the many other topics covered are clicker training, correct use of electronic collars, desensitization and counter-conditioning, behavior chains, and treating common behavior problems.
This very readable book will teach you a great deal about how to be an effective dog trainer and dispels many myths which surround our knowledge of training.
All reveiws written and copyrighted by Jessi Clark-White. All rights are reserved, and no reviews may be duplicated in any manner without written permission from the author.
