Over the weekend, my wife and I journeyed to Clearwater, Florida, to visit a dolphin aquarium. At the aquarium, the staff presented a show in which trained dolphins performed.
During the performance, the announced stated that the trainers always used positive reinforcement to get the dolphins to learn tricks. They never used negative reinforcement. If the dolphin did not do as expected, the trainers ignored it.
This really caught the attention of this writer - because of our study of Reinforcement Theory our course.
Your humble servant here grew up on the concept of "carrots" and "sticks" to motivate people. He never really thought about ignoring negative behavior in a neutral sort of way as a valid, reliable technique.
Perhaps the dolphins know something we do not. In any case, it is worth mulling. I hope this finds you in good healthy, spirits.
My wife and I are enjoying being "snow birds" from Wisconsin here in Florida until April. Dr. Rux, Crystal River, Florida
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