Conditioning-Blog 1, Wk 2

Something I found interesting from this week’s reading is the term conditioning. This is the idea that our decisions are somewhat linked to a certain response we have gotten previously. B. F. Skinner recognized operant conditioning. This is the type of conditioning in which “animals do something and experience a consequence” (Berger, 41).

I find this particularly interesting because my father is a falconer. This means that he flies birds of prey. Most interesting, I think, is that he flies a golden eagle. There aren’t too many eagle falconers in the U.S. So, what I watched much of my life, was how my dad would train birds. This is a perfect example of conditioning.

When he first brought home Alpha, she was a wild eagle that was never exposed to human beings, and she wanted to kill him. Literally, she wanted to cause major physical harm to him, and she also had the ability to do just that. I learned that how you train a wild animal is by having the animal associate you with a positive response. In the case of an eagle, this is meat. My dad started by staying far away and throwing food to her. He even started this when it was dark, so that she could not see him. He would only talk to her, at this point, so she would learn his voice and associate that with meat. He would gradually do this during the day, and move closer and closer until he could physically touch her. This process took a very long time. From there, he would work on being able to have her fly to him, every time, being rewarded with meat, and in turn, associating him with this positive outcome.

Now, my dad gets home from work, and she knows the sound of his truck. She calls to him as soon as she hears the truck in a way that signifies that she is his “mate.” She always associates him with a positive thing-food. She also always comes back to him. She is not tied to him in any way and flies freely with him. Crazy right?? Makes you wonder how much of this reflects on human beings…how many of our decisions are based on a single positive response that we may have had when were too young to even remember.