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The Function of Behavior
I love this quote from Susan Friedman, PhD ~
All behavior has function, including undesirable behavior. The question is NOT “Why is the animal behaving this way?” but rather, “What is reinforcing this behavior.”
Why is it so helpful to look at behavior this way?
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7 Replies
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Well then! I love Dr. Friedman – she is so profound and easy to listen to!
I used to jokingly refer to myself as the “forensic dog trainer” because while some behaviors are exceedingly puzzling, there’s ALWAYS a reason.
One time a client called me, so disturbed that their 8 yr old female dog had destroyed their couch. The dog had NEVER chewed up ANYTHING before. I arrived at their home ready to help and started with my regular history intake. Nothing was coming up. The only change in the house was that the couch was new. Why would this dog suddenly have a need to destroy a brand new couch?
I noticed the damage was in the middle of the back of the couch which was facing the kitchen. I got down on my hands and knees and looked under the couch….
There were several treats just out of dog-reach.
I pulled them out and showed them to the owners who said, “OMG we were tossing treats for her! We didn’t notice any had rolled under there!’
The dog was not destructive, just practiced at solving food puzzles, and this was obviously a big one!
Ask yourself – what’s in it for the dog?! And it will be a lot easier to figure out why they are motivated to do certain things.
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Rereading that quote – I realize I even answered my question with a story that digs into WHY… So now, I’m rethinking the whole thing… what was reinforcing the dog’s digging? Past success at food-puzzling, a reinforcement history of persistently working to get to the food…
But tell me what you think, @virginiad – what do you think the distinction is between asking “why” and looking for the function of the behavior?
I feel like @jenz can help me out, too?
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Perhaps we just need to be careful assigning a “why” from our human perspective, if we’re just guessing. By asking instead, what is the function of the behavior, we’re drilling down to the actual reinforcement history for the dog, which is what informs future behavior.
You wrote: “Past success at food-puzzling, a reinforcement history of persistently working to get to the food…” This certainly sounds plausible. The pet parent could confirm something like that, no doubt. ????
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I want to reiterate how much I love Susan Friedman… and this behavioristic philosophy bumps up hard against my empathic anthropormorphising… a function(!) which has served me well in behavior counseling.
The question WHY is close to “What is the function” … but I see how it could open one to a complete misinterpretation…
…noodling….
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Yeah, I think this is quite noodle-worthy!
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I’m laughing out loud, because this same scenario happens all too often here at my house, when boarding a single dog! I will have to look under the furniture…I do not have area rugs anymore, because I don’t want to invite marking behavior (seems to work well) and the treat ball and foraging type toys often roll under my couch, or coffee and side tables, because of the hardwood flooring.
Mostly laughing because I am often finding myself scavenging under the furniture before I go somewhere to make sure said pup has its “Arsenal of food toys” ready. Funny, because mainly I think the dog has trained ME, after awhile. “Human, please go dig under the couch for my ball.”
I think it’s great that story that you shared @catherine. So many reasons WHY can often begin with looking at the scenario at the level of the dog.
I mean, the actual level. Get down on the floor and look around. The world looks much different from down there! I used to teach swimming lessons and told the younger staff members, when dealing with a shy or fearful child entering the pool area, “get down on your knees… Doesn’t the pool look HUGE and scary?” Often they would agree and it isn’t hard to see why they were crying and finding the first steps to communicate with a child is similar to that with dogs.
Sorry for digressing a bit! Great topic, @virginiad
I will look her up!
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Great points as usual Paula – yes, seeing it all from the other’s perspective – UMWELT – Suzanne Clothier calls it. And Temple Grandin, too, I think. So important!
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