The 'Rewards' of positive reinforcement

摘要

Whenever I'm traveling and a fellow passenger asks me what I do for a living, I always tell the truth, despite the consequences. "I'm a small animal veterinarian," I say. Then I am flooded with stories and questions about every pet the person has lived with since birth, including the goldfish won at the county fair, and the barrage of questions usually demonstrates that the individual has owned more species of animal than veterinarians see in 4 years of veterinary school. I can answer many of the questions, but some, even some seemingly simple ones, elicit a blank stare accompanied by that feeling you get when you are in a classroom, the teacher is about to call on you, and you 've forgotten to read the assignment. I may not readily know the answerto "What should I feed my pet iguana?" or "How long does a pet chicken live?," but I don't hesitate to answer questions on behavior in any animal species.