Clean Run - April 2017 - 10

grouping in turn influences the next action
the participants take, which is walking.
Note that in this example, framing is not
affecting only our interpretation of an ambiguous stimulus, and doing it completely
without our awareness, but is determining our seemingly independent actions.
We work very hard to maintain a selfimage of a rational, cognitive mind,
thinking scientifically and without bias.
But that self-image is not reality.
It is impossible to live in a condition of
hyper-alertness at all times. The brain,
as marvelous as it is, cannot give a full
and rational scan to every stimulus it
encounters. System 1 thinking-quick
interpretations based on familiarity, ease
of recall, known patterns, emotional response-is the efficient way to deal with
the vast majority of what we encounter.
And it supplies most of the data we use
when we do engage System 2 thinking to
be more analytical than usual. We must
learn to be suspicious of what we "know."
Now, think of how this same explanation
of cognition works in our dogs. They
too are subject to the framing affect. Did
you do some quick sits in your warmup? The next half-heard cue in a noisy
environment may be interpreted as a sit.
Was that a whiff of rubbing alcohol from
a hand sanitizer? It may have called to
subconscious mind the memory of veterinary visits and he may be more sensitive to a stranger reaching for his body.
Framing is an unconscious effect, which
means the dog is not thinking rationally
whether his interpretation is correct or
justified. To him, it seems the only natural or logical response.
We don't even think about our other options. Frequently clients complain their
dog barks at the door instead of wait-

ing to see who comes in, or takes the
bar jump instead of the high jump, or
chooses any given behavior over another
which might be more convenient or correct to our thinking. We might concoct
a variety of explanations for why this
happens-"he likes the tunnel better!"-
but the truth is, just as we don't stop to
think about whether we could be misreading the letter B until it is pointed out,
the dog's System 1 interpretations are
wholly invisible to him and he doesn't
even consider that he might be misinterpreting a situation or cue. His mind has
found a fast, straightforward solution
and has no reason to spend the extra effort in second-guessing itself.

Mental Exertion
"Mental energy" is not as much of a
metaphor as we tend to think. We know
mental exertion is real exertion-that's
why a few shaping games with an active puppy can save our sanity on a cold
day-but we're still learning just how
much of an effort it is.
The nervous system consumes a lot of
physical energy-glucose, in the bloodstream-and difficult cognitive tasks become more difficult if that glucose supply is not replenished during the session.
This is one of several reasons I require
the use of food treats, as opposed to other forms of reinforcement, during reactivity work. While there are many ways
to positively reinforce desired behavior
and I am in favor of nearly all of them in
appropriate contexts, when I am asking
a dog to concentrate hard on thoughtful analysis and self-control in the presence of a trigger and to make very deliberate decisions to do something other
than what comes naturally, I am going
to use food so that he can continue to

make those decisions. Otherwise, he is
more likely to start making mistakes as
the session progresses, and now I am
building mistakes into our program.
(This is also why I encourage snacking
during intense learning sessions for human students, such as during my Karen
Pryor Academy workshops. See, I tell
my students, chocolate breaks are good
for your learning!)
That mental exertion is measurable in
other ways than glucose consumption as
well, by pupil dilation (the pupil grows
by about 50% during the most intense
cognitive strains) and heart rate increase.
As I struggled with a prosopagnosia test,
for example, "straining my brain," my
heart rate increased so much that my
Fitbit auto-logged those minutes as an
exercise session!
This consumption of resources leaves
less to be used elsewhere. Intense effort, mental or physical, will deplete the
available pool and reduce performance
elsewhere - even if it is a completely
different type of task.
Are you concentrating really hard, being nice during that obligatory family
gathering with cousins who hold entirely
contrary politico-social views? You're
probably not going to maintain the same
self-control at the dessert table as you
would in an environment where you
weren't working as hard. (Nor are you
as likely to maintain a demanding physical task, should you be asked.) There are
numerous studies to support that a brain
facing a cognitive challenge and temptation is much more likely to succumb to
the temptation, because there are fewer
mental resources remaining available for
self-control. Be aware of this when setting up your training scenarios!

Most of this research has been conducted only in humans so far, but there's no reason
to think the same cognition processes are not functioning in our dogs' heads and in those of
other species. We are constantly recognizing that realms of thought and processes we thought
reserved for human brains are actually active in our nonhuman animal friends as well. It wasn't
so long ago that it was "known" that animals could not use tools, feel emotion, or think
imaginatively. Now we not only know these things are possible, but often we are surprised
to hear anyone ever thought the opposite.
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Clean Run | April 17

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