I used Behavior Skills Training (instruction, modeling, practice, and feedback) to teach this, and Grace picked it up VERY quickly! In addition to “Okay,” I also taught her simple phrases like “Sounds good” or “No problem.” I reinforced her responses with a gem jar every time she engaged in the appropriate behavior and then started fading it out once she was using it fluently. Now, she still earns gems on occasion (not too often), but I reinforce intermittently—about 30% of the time. I also reco

The studies looking at animal behavior and problem solving skills are endlessly fascinating, but the true challenge is understanding what exactly it is we are studying without tripping over our own biases. This is something we explored in our last podcast and YouTube, famously referring to the myth that apes understand sign language and Alex the African Grey Parrot was capable of language as well. The string pulling experiment is one that many researchers thought reflected causal reasoning, the