The Exploitation of the Mind

Today’s riddle: How is a 5-year-old human like a spotted hyena? (Aside from eating habits and destructive potential!)

I’m not usually surprised by internet comments on articles or videos; in fact, I usually avoid them in the interest of sparing my blood pressure. Most internet commentary is badly spelled, poorly written, and shows no evidence of critical thinking, and it generally amuses or depresses me.

Last week, however, I read one comment, from a very disturbed viewer, which really disturbed me. The video in question had been shot by the delightful Laurie Luck, during our KPA faculty visit to the Denver Zoo, and showed some very nice husbandry training for their hyenas.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs-tAHqGruY

This is fabulous training; hyenas are extremely powerful animals, with amazing bite pressure, and safety concerns with even the best-trained animals necessitate protected contact at all times. By training for low-stress blood draws, shots, and body part examination, these animals can receive excellent medical care and support ongoing research on the species (if I recall correctly, this particular group has contributed hugely to understanding of hyena reproduction, which helps conservation efforts) as well as engage in mental stimulation and enrichment games.

Before good training was common in zoos, medical care was more difficult and much more tramatic; minor concerns went unaddressed until they became major enough to merit dramatic action, such as pinning the panicked animal in a chute to allow access or using tranquilizers (which often have adverse medical effects of their own). By contrast, look at these hyenas presenting veins for blood draws or injections without a second thought. Good husbandry training has not only made zookeeping easier for the human keepers, but infinitely more comfortable for the animals themselves.

But one viewer didn’t feel that way.

This video almost made me physically sick. This is not what any form of life should go through. They’ll be doing this to humans next. People are already using clickers for children.

I nearly felt ill myself after reading this; I truly can’t understand the reasoning behind it. How would coercion be more respectful? Or should no two individuals ever be able to communicate peacefully? These were low-stress husbandry behaviors for easy medical treatment; who could find this so offensive?

I tried to understand; was the viewer upset at the captivity of exotics? I didn’t think so; there was no reference to zoos themselves, only the training, and the reference to clicking humans couldn’t be related to zoos. Maybe the viewer couldn’t see that the hyenas weren’t unhappy — maybe she expected them to look like wiggly Golden Retrievers? But I decided it had to do with the apparent imposition of our will upon the animal or human subject.

Now, anyone familiar with clicker training knows that there’s very little “imposition of will” in the usual sense, though quite a bit of behavior change. I guess it might be “imposition of will” if we judge solely by results. The subject is free to leave at any time — notice that there’s nothing forcing these hyenas to participate — but stays because of the reinforcement (in the hyenas’ case, food and the mental fun). The animals are never starved into compliance, which is not only bad training but physically dangerous to many exotics. Even if these hyenas had not participated in the training, they would have received their full allotment of food later in the day. Yet by skillful application of marker and reinforcers, the trainer can teach new concepts or behaviors which become very reliable — but without coercion or force.

So what this viewer resented was the manipulation of behavior, the apparent lack of free will, the hierarchy of one mind over another. Okay, I can sort of see that — but that’s what we all do every day! Children learn new behaviors from parents and teachers; athletes practice under coaches; employees are governed by bosses who are governed by higher bosses who are governed by CEOs who are governed by spouses at home. Some of these relationships are turbulent, some are peaceful and respectful. But all of us, every day, are training and being trained by other individuals.

Emma in Nashville

Jump forward a couple of days, and I was visiting Nashville, IN with some friends. Nashville is a townwide tourist trap in scenic Brown County, famous for fall colors and country charm. My friend’s daughter Emma, who has appeared in quite a few articles and blog posts by now, has just turned 5 this month and was getting a bit rambunctious after so many shops of fragile items. So Emma and I held hands and crossed the street to a rustic garden area, where I turned her loose. “Run!”

She ran. Quick, we need direction. “Point to the stone angel!” She pointed. “Touch it!” She ran to do so. “Find the bear!” She pointed. “Touch it!” She ran to do so. “Spin in a circle!” She did. “What kind of flower is that?”  “A mum!” “Correct! Now run!” She ran. “Freeze!” She halted and faced me. “Great job! Now run!”

Emma worked out some kinks, giggling and laughing, and then we held hands to cross the street again. Mission accomplished, all happy, and we snuck in some education while we were playing.

It didn’t occur to me until much later that my play session with Emma was almost identical in structure and pace to the training session with the hyenas. It had been rapid iteration of many different known cues, some testing of a new concept (we had just learned about mums that day), and both of us had been wholly engaged and having a good time, even though Emma could have been distracted or could have wandered off to examine the many fascinating things around us. But a strong history of reinforcement and the inherent reinforcement of the game (for Emma, praise and the opportunity to get a new cue) kept her engaged and the outing happy.

And it had been training, as well as fun — not just the vocabulary practice, but safety cues as well, such as freezing while at full run away from an adult. Would the viewer who had been so disturbed at the manipulation of another’s behavior resist teaching a young child safety cues which could prevent her from running into another pedestrian or a busy street? “This is not what any form of life should go through” — but without learning basic behaviors, no form of life remains living for long.

There is bad training, to be sure, confusing or abusive. But condemning all training because of bad training is like condemning eating because of bad cooking. Learning and teaching are necessary for life, and good learning and good teaching make better life.