Animal training, huh? What's the purpose of making good old Sparky learn to fetch your slippers or the newspaper, besides avoiding getting off the couch? Well, while the newspaper or slippers may not seem too substantial, retrieving an object on command for a dog can be crucial to some humans' lives. So why is animal training important? Animals can be trained for many purposes that not only make lives more convenient for people, but also increase our safety, independence, and give the animal tasks that allow them to feel accomplished. Dogs can be trained to detect drugs or dangerous objects, find missing people, warn humans of seizures other health risks, and aid people with disabilities in their everyday lives. From helping out the blind, to making people with PTSD feel more secure, service animals that are specially trained are changing thousands of lives a year. Now you're probably wondering, "What does this have to do with Psych, and why am I still reading this?" Well, animal training is a perfect example of operant conditioning. Training uses punishment and reinforcement in order to encourage or discourage behaviors to achieve necessary behaviors from the animals. Training may involve using the animals' natural instincts to the advantage of the trainer, and the trainers often focus on what will motivate the animal in the best manor to encourage desired behaviors. Some often training includes training animals to ignore certain stimuli (for seeing-eye dogs), bonding to individuals for special needs dogs, and using a dog's desire to retrieve to help people get items with the assistance of their dog. Without operant conditioning, and the psychology of animal training, many people with special needs would need other forms of assistance and may be robbed of their independence.
Writing #2: May 2012 Archives
I have always been a fan of Budweiser beer commercials, especially those that are aired during the Super Bowl. Usually my favorite ads are funny, but as I browsed through ads on Google, I noticed that there is a very common theme throughout the ads: The Budweiser girls. Budweiser is taking full advantage of the sex appeal factor that proves to work time and time again in all different forms of advertising. The use of the attractive, sparsely clothed young women in their ads appeals to men, which are the main audience targeted by the Budweiser Company. Another tactic that Budweiser uses in their ads is a phrase claiming that Budweiser is the "King of Beers." This claim is another tactic that speaks to the masculinity of men. If you drink the king of beers, you will be the king. This creates the illusion that drinking Budweiser beer will make you more powerful among your peers. I have always wondered how much time and money goes into the advertisement tactics beer along with a number of other products. According to the Pacific Brew News, Budweiser spent a little under 500 million dollars in 2007 on advertising. Maybe advertising in a major brewing company is the job to have.
