Parrots First

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Susan G. Friedman, PhD Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., began her career in applied behavior analysis working with children with severe behavior disorders. More recently, she has pioneered efforts to apply to captive animals the scientifically sound teaching technology and standards for best practices that have been so effective with human learners. Dr. Friedman was appointed to the federal California Condor Recovery Team and frequently collaborates with field biologists, veterinarians, animal trainers, zoo keepers, and pet owners regarding behavior analysis solutions to the animal behavior problems they encounter. is a psychology professor at Utah State University. An applied behaviorist for more than 25 years, her area of expertise is learning and behavior, with a special emphasis on children ’s behavior disorders. Prior to living in Utah, Susan was a professor at the University of Colorado after which she lived in Lesotho, Africa for 5 years. While there, she directed the first American School of Lesotho. Susan has written on the topic of learning and behavior for two avian veterinary texts (in press) and popular parrot magazines. Several articles can be found on the web at http://www.parrotsfirst.org . She co-teaches animal behavior workshops with Steve Martin at his ranch facility (see http://www.naturalencounters.com) and zoos around the country, speaks at bird clubs and conferences, and enjoys contributing to and learning from several companion parrot behavior internet lists. Susan is a core member of the California Condor Recovery Team. Dr. Friedman also teaches an online class in behavior. This ListServ course is designed to teach participants how parrots learn. The focus is on analyzing the ways in which the caregiver ’s interactions and environmental arrangements maintain existing problem behaviors and how more adaptive behaviors can be taught through the use of positive reinforcement. By understanding the fundamental principles of learning and behavior and the associated teaching technology, caregivers can facilitate successful parrot behaviors for lasting companionship. The philosophy of behavior in this course is that parrots, like all learners, must have power to operate positively on their environment to live behaviorally healthy lives. We facilitate this power when we interact with them in such a way that they choose to do what is required for lasting companionship in our homes. The guideline followed for matching problems to solutions is to always select the most positive, least intrusive effective interventions. To change our parrot ’s behavior we first change what we do. Students will quickly learn that once one has the necessary tools, a commitment to facilitate behavior rather than force it does not mean a loss of behavioral compliance. A natural science perspective guides the information presented here which means that our challenge is to explain behavioral phenomena by identifying the physical events that produce them. Students are encouraged to focus on observable behavior and the environmental elements that support it, rather than inferences or assumptions about hypothetical mental mechanisms.

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