TOTAL BIRD HEALTH SEMINARS PRESENTS
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., is a psychology professor at Utah State University. An applied behaviorist for more than 25 years, her area of expertise is learning and behavior, with a special emphasis on children’s behavior disorders. Prior to living in Utah, Susan was a professor at the University of Colorado after which she lived in Lesotho, Africa for 5 years. While there, she directed the first American School of Lesotho.
Susan has written on the topic of learning and behavior for two avian veterinary texts (in press) and popular parrot magazines. She teaches at Steve Martin’s Professional Animal Trainers’ Workshop yearly, speaks at bird clubs, and enjoys contributing to and learning from several companion parrot behavior internet lists. She is a core member of the California Condor Recovery Team and consults with zoos on issues related to animal learning. When asked how she became interested in working with companion parrots in particular, Susan explains with a wink, "I have always loved working with juvenile delinquents!"
This course is designed to teach participants how parrots learn. The focus is on analyzing the ways in which the caretaker’s interactions and environmental arrangements maintain existing problem behaviors and how more adaptive behaviors can be taught through the use of positive reinforcement. By understanding the fundamental principles of learning and behavior and the associated teaching technology, caretakers can facilitate successful parrot behaviors for lasting companionship.
In this introductory session, lecture topics include functional analysis/assessment, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, shaping and chaining, and differential reinforcement of incompatible or alternative behaviors. Also, briefly discussed are the common pitfalls of using extinction and time-out from positive reinforcement, and the negative fallout associated with the use of punishment. Your own personal history as lifelong learners and teachers has no doubt given you a lot of experiences with these principles. It is hoped that by improving your specific academic knowledge of how to apply them you will have an even sharper set of tools for your teaching toolbox.
The philosophy of behavior in this course is that parrots, like all learners, must have power to operate positively on their environment to live behaviorally healthy lives. We facilitate this power when we interact with them in such a way that they choose to do what is required for lasting companionship in our homes. The philosophy is one of positive-first solutions and least intrusive interventions. To change our parrot’s behavior we first change what we do. Students will quickly learn that once one has the necessary tools, a commitment to facilitate rather than force behavior does not mean a loss of behavioral compliance.
A natural science perspective guides the information presented here which means that our challenge is to explain behavioral phenomena by identifying the physical events that produce them. Students are encouraged to focus on observable behavior and the environmental elements that support it, rather than inferences or assumptions about hypothetical mental mechanisms. The lectures rely heavily on the findings of many decades of scientific study of behavior across many different species of learners.
LLP will be limited to a group of 50 participants, selected on a first come, first serve basis. To register for LLP, please send the registration form back to The Gabriel Foundation.
We hope you'll join us for what promises to be a fun and productive learning
experience: A course designed for parrot lovers where the birds award the
grade!
Registration Form
(Please complete and sign)
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Circle meal choice: Poultry Beef Vegetarian Vegan
REGISTRATION FEES
Fee includes both days
TGF Members $135
Non-members $150
Students or technicians, seniors (60+) $75
& shelter employees
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Please mail or fax this registration form along with payment to:
The Gabriel Foundation Education Center
1025 Acoma Street
Denver, CO 80204
Fax: 303.629.5901
Phone: 303.629.5900 x 215