COMP 1 MODULE 1 PRE-WR.ITE

Student Sample of the Prewriting Steps Prewrite: Benefits of Reward-Based Training for Dogs Step 1: Select Your Topic The effects of reward-based training on dogs Step 2: Brainstorm Your Topic Note: You may list your items in this manner, or choose to do the clustering as demonsrated in the graphic illustration in the instructions for this module. Reward Based Training

• Maintaining dog engagement/interest

• Increase positive emotions from dog to trainer

• Build trust between dog and trainer

• Increase duration of training

• More likely to repeat rewarded behavior

• Converts rewarded behavior to learned behavior

• Dogs can be rewarded in many different ways o

Attention o

Toys o

Treats Step 2.1: Outline Your Topic 1) Introduction a. Introduce the problem and purpose of the paper b. Explain the history of work on the subject c. Thesis statement 2) Body of content a. Explain terms to get the reader on the same page b. Present Information found in studies

3) Discussion/conclusion a. Propose future research direction b. Restate thesis statement Research Questions 1. What are the benefits of reward-based dog training on skill performance? 2. What are the effects of reward-based dog training on pet engagement? 3. What complications are associated with reward-based dog training? 4. How effective is reward-based dog training versus punishment-based?

Step 3: Write your thesis statement 1. Implementing positive reinforcement training for dogs improves learning ability and dog obedience. Step 4: Write your introduction 1. Having an unruly pet can become a problem for any pet owner, therefore selecting an appropriate training method for dogs can be an important decision. Positive reinforcement training for dogs improves learning ability and overall dog obedience. Thorndike’s (1898) Animal Intelligence found that animals can adapt to a behavior when stimulated by a favorable result. Skinner (1938) built upon the work of Thorndike’s when he famously coined the term Operant Conditioning. Operant conditioning is based on learning associations between actions and consequences. Operant conditioning involves learning from the outcome of a behavior. This includes punishment for undesirable behavior. However, positive reinforcement alone, has been shown to be correlated with increased obedience and decreased problematic behaviors (Hiby, Rooney, & Bradshaw, 2004). Step 5: Write your content (body of paper) 1. Positive reinforcement can be explained as rewarding desirable behavior. Rewards range from edible (treats and food), verbal (praise), and physical responses (groom, playtime, etc.). Negative reinforcement can be explained as punishment for undesirable actions. Punishment can be done through verbal (scold, yell) and physical (hit, choke, etc.) means. There is cause for concern with punishing dogs physically or verbally as it can lead to suffering for the dog. Undesirable behavior can range from overexcitement (barking, jumping, etc.) to destructive (aggressive barking, biting, urinating indoors, etc.). Positive stimulation or arousal is described as “a state of general wakefulness and responsiveness of the environment and implies a generalized increase in the activity of the cerebral cortex” (as cited in Haverbeke, A., Laporte, B., Depiereux, E., Giffroy, J.-M., Diederich, C.,

2008, p. 11) Negative stimulation or stress is described as a “loss of control and reduced predictability of what will happen.” (as cited in Haverbeke, A., et al., 2008, p. 11). 2. A Questionnaire conducted by Hiby et al. (2004) where 326 participants filled out questionnaires regarding their training strategies and outcomes. Approximately 60.4% of respondents practiced a mixture of reward and punishment-based methods. Less than 21% of individuals reported using exclusively reward based methods for training and fewer than 10% reported using exclusively punishment- based methods. As expected, owners were more likely to punish dogs for undesirable behavior and praise desirable behavior. Overall, punishment was not correlated with improved obedience. Owners reported a significant increase in obedience when using exclusively reward-based method. Similarly, Heverbeke et al., (2008) found that dogs who were punished during training underperformed in obedience-based tasks when compared to dogs who were not punished as frequently. Step 6: Write your conclusion

1. According to Hiby et al. (2004) the majority, 60%, of participants used a mixture of training strategies. Assuming this data is reflective of the larger population of dog owners, then a great majority of individuals use both reward and punishment-based training. Dogs that were rewarded during training showed improvements in obedience and wanted behaviors. Punishment on the other hand was negatively associated with obedience (Heverbeke et al., 2008, Hiby et al., 2004). Dog owners should focus on rewarding their dogs for good behavior. Research on this dog learning should look into decreasing unwanted behaviors without the use of punishment. Works Cited Haverbeke, A., Laporte, B., Depiereux, E., Giffroy, J.-M., Diederich, C. (2008). Training methods of military dog handlers and their effects on the team’s performances. Applied Animal Behavior Science. 1-13. Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century. Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal Intelligence: An experimental study of the associative processes in animals. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2(4), i-109

S Step 7: Use Appropriate Vocabulary Obtuse: He wasn’t the best writer; his obtuse journal entries were proof of that. Abstruse: She tried to speak and chew at same time, which made her message abstruse. Abeyance: My vacations is in abeyance while I finish this urgent work assignment. Mitosis: We wouldn’t survive without mitosis. Nihilism: After his wife’s Tragic death, Jim became quite the nihilist. Parameter: The fence around my home serves as a parameter for my dog. Paradigm: Denmark is a paradigm for renewable energy production. Precipitous: Eagles like to lay their eggs in the most precipitous locations, away from other predators. Jocular: After four beers, his mood became increasingly jocular. Chicanery: New laws must be put in place to stop political chicanery. Acumen: Typing acumen is a necessity in modern America considering our ever- growing technology. Bowdlerize: Jim needs to bowdlerize his bicycle if he wants to win the race. Circumnavigate: Aggressive behavior management can be effective when circumnavigating potentially dangerous encounters. Deleterious: Smoking has been linked to deleterious effects on the human body.

Churlish: Rush hour traffic is a good time to observe churlish behavior from motorists. Enervate: He is what we call an energy vampire, enervating each person he interacted with. Deciduous: I will be keeping my eye on the deciduous trees now that summer has come to an end. Antebellum: I can’t think of a single person who would want to live in antebellum Los Angeles. Gauche: My form and movements were more gauche when I first started going to the gym compared to now. Hubris: Hubris is common in people who consider themselves professionals in a skill or craft. Obsequiousness: The obsequious dog followed every command perfectly. Fiduciary: For the small non-profit to receive a grant, they required a fiduciary with fiscal oversight.

Feckless: After her fifth consecutive day on the couch, her feckless behavior was interrupted by a call to action. Lexicon: After reading over a hundred books, her lexicon had vastly increased. Kinetic: The kinetic energy of his punch knocked the contender to the floor. Inculcate: Nightly bedtime stories inculcated the habit of reading to her child.