When you went to school, what was it like for you? Did you enjoy it? Did you get good grades? Did you feel like you did not fit in? Did you feel like you did fit in? Everyone has their own life experiences when it comes to learning things and these experiences tend to stay with us throughout our life. Why is it that these experiences impact us so much and what does this have to do with dog training? In this post, I am going to discuss the value of emotions in both people and dogs as they apply to the learning process. Emotions are a huge part of living creatures and they have a huge impact on your dog’s ability and willingness to learn! Continue reading to find out how!
Emotions and Learning
Humans have a wide range of what we call “emotions” and names for those emotions. Some emotions do not seem to have names; have you ever had a moment where you cannot describe what you are feeling? However, whether our emotions have names or not, they impact us so thoroughly that we frequently do not know what to do with them. Many people spend their lives trying to find a way to avoid their emotions; others spend time trying to learn to express them; some struggle with feeling certain emotions too much or too little, and still others seem to process their emotions quickly and efficiently…at least most of the time. Emotions permeate everything we do. They are a key factor in our decision-making processes and relationships. Emotions can keep us in bed or cause us to spring from it with joy! Emotions can flair and emotions can calm. Emotions are part of who we are and how we live.
So, what does this have to do with learning? Learning is something that people, and animals, do every day, whether we realize it or not. Our brains are hardwired to process information and file it somewhere in our memory banks. But think back to the first few questions I asked about school and add these two to the list: What emotions do you associate with high school or college? Why do you think these emotions are so strongly associated with those experiences? In an article written on emotions and how it impacts learning, it was stated that “Emotion has a particularly strong influence on attention, especially modulating the selectivity of attention as well as motivating action and behavior” (Tyng, Amin, Saad, and Malik, 2017, pg. 1). In other words, emotions play a huge role in our ability to pay attention and be motivated to perform behaviors. If you associated negative emotions with going to school, you might have struggled in school because you were not motivated. I do not mean that negative emotions cause struggles in school, but just think back to your school days. Did your emotions ever impact your ability to pay attention in school? Now think about life outside of school. Do negative emotions decrease your ability to pay attention when you are at work or trying to solve relationship problems? Do these emotional links impact your motivation to succeed? Keep these emotional links in mind as we move into the next section of this article.
Dog’s Feel Too
With this understanding of emotions and their impact on how people learn, keep in mind that dogs, and animals in general, have emotions too! If your dog has a negative association with something, they will most likely work to avoid that something? I have seen it with my own eyes! I have seen a dog avoid children who play too rough, avoid a certain area of the house when a certain person is there because the dog tends to get yelled at by that person, and I have seen dogs lower their head to avoid being touched by someone they seem to view as unpredictable and untrustworthy. Now, before I move on, I must say that currently there is no way to know exactly what emotions a dog is feeling and how that impacts its behaviors. However, we can make very well-educated guesses. Normally, when a dog deliberately moves away from something, it is considered avoidance and seems to be a response to a stimulus that is associated with negative emotions and experiences. In addition to this, based on learning theory, an individual is more likely to repeat a behavior that is reinforced (rewarded) (Miltenberger, R. G., 2016). This applies to animals as well and is the scientific key to clicker training! When using a clicker and treats, the animal seems to link positive experiences such as getting food (which seems to be linked to positive emotions such as joy) to the behaviors trained, thus increasing the dog’s desire to perform those behaviors! The way your dog feels about training and learning is an important part of its learning process.
Emotions are also one reason why I love to tell people about training under threshold. In an article clip I read about animal emotions, it is stated that “Stressors change the focus of attention, influencing decision and learning speed. Small amounts of glucocorticoids and catecholamine aid memory formation, but too much disrupts memory” (Beaver, 2019, page number not available, refer to reference link in references section). In other words, too much stress causes a decrease in memory retention. This information supports what I have been discussing about animals having emotions and those emotions impacting their ability to learn. But it also helps explain why it is important to train “below threshold.” Below threshold means that you find the emotional “place” where your dog is motivated (there is a small amount of stress, something one might call determination), but your dog is not so stressed that it cannot think clearly and enjoy the processes. In short, once again, emotions play a huge role in learning!
Applying Emotion
So, after reading through all this information you might be wondering how to apply what you have learned here. First, always remember that training and learning need to be positive experiences for both you and your dog. Second, if you are in a bad mood, do not train with your dog (unless you know that training will cheer you up). Wait until you are in a good mood to start a training session. The session will be much more profitable for both you and the dog! Be honest with yourself about how you feel. If you are not in a great mood, do not tell yourself you are and then try training. Because no matter how hard you try, your poker face does not fool your dog! They will know and your mood will impact their emotional state as well. It is a lot like going out to have fun with a friend who is in a bad mood and trying to cover it up. As much as you might try to focus, your friend’s negative mood puts a damper on things. When training, promote the feelings of love, care, and joy between you and your dog!
Also, using rewards and success to boost one’s emotional state is a valuable tool in learning. For example, after a good training session, reward yourself as well as your dog! Make sure this reward is healthy, but do not forget to give yourself a little pat on the back for a job well done!
If there is only one thing you take away from this discussion, make sure it is this: positive emotions have a positive impact on memory and learning. In other words, if you want your dog to learn, make learning fun!
References:
Beaver, B. V., (2019). Learning. Equine Behavioral Medicine (chapter 3). Page number N/A. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/emotion-in-animals
(note: to find the quote from Beaver, click the link above and look for the section entitled “Learning” and credited as being written by Bonnie V. Beaver. The quote is located in the beginning of the fifth paragraph of that section).
Miltenberger, R. G. (2016). Behavior Modifications (6th edition). Cengage Learning, Boston MA. Print.
Tyng, C. M., Amin, H. U., Saad, M. N. M., Malik, A. S., (2017). The Influences of Emotion on Learning and Memory. Frontiers in Psychology (8) 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01454 https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01454
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