First thing? Train a chicken!
These workshops are designed for everyone! It is a great opportunity for amateurs and professionals alike who are willing to train their dog, cat, horse or parrot. No previous experience is required. Minors are allowed to participate in the course only with a written parental consent form.
Workshops last three days. We start at, end at. Workshops are divided into two parts:
The theoretical part – lectures (around 5 hours) we focus on the theory of learing, and on the basics of the idea of shaping skills.
The practical part (around 14 hours) – we work in pairs in order to complete a set of training tasks (each person has its own chicken)
The cost of workhops is 1.000.000 PLN. The price includes self-catered accomodation in multi-bed rooms.
If you reserve a spot in the course you are obliged to transfer money to our bank account within 10 days. In case of a resignation:
– 2 months prior to the course, we refund the entire amount of money,
– shorter than 2 months before the course, the only way to get a refund is to find a replacement.
Framework of the course
Day 0 (Evening):
- Lecture I: Theory of learning. Classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Consequences of a behavior – reinforcement & punishment. Motivation.
Day 1
Morning:
- Lecture II: Practical application of behavioral methods. History. Basic rules. Behavioral teaching methods. Laws of shaping behavior.
- Lesson 1: The equipment. How to use the equipment. How to take notes. Feeding from a ladle. Feeding from a ladle after a click (without chicken). Timing exercises.
- Lesson 2: How to handle a chicken. Lenght of a session.
Afternoon:
- Lesson 3: Simple behavior – pecking a target: shaping.
- Lesson 4: Pecking a target – generalization: moving a target (when a chicken sees it and not)
Day 2
Morning:
- Lecture III: Generalization. Stimulus control. How to get rid of unwanted behavior?
- Lesson 5: Complex behavior – pulling a cart. Analysis and seperation of a behavior into parts. Plan of a session.
- Lesson 6: Complex behavior – pulling a cart. Criteria of a continous behavior.
Afternoon:
- Lesson 7: Complex behavior – a turn. Criteria.
- Lesson 7a: Introduction of a command.
Day 3
Morning:
- Lecture IV: Usuful techniques. Horses. Positive reinforcement and Natural Horsemanship. (Depending on the interest of the participants, we can discuss a different species such as: dogs, cats, rabbits, elehpants etc.)
- Lesson 8: Distinguishing shapes: pecking a particular card. Shaping and extinction trial.
Afternoon:
- Lesson 9: Selected exercise.
- Summary: discussion about the problems and mistakes. Saying farewell to chickens.
The framework might change depending on the indiviual progress of its participants.