Your PORTL to Shaping
with Mary Hunter
June 25th and 26th, 2022
Ann Arbor, MI
About Your PORTL to Shaping:
Join Mary Hunter for two intensive days of lectures and hands-on exercises using PORTL. PORTL, or the Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab, is a tabletop game that will help you learn more about animal behavior and learning.
This workshop will focus specifically on the topic of shaping. You’ll learn about behavior principles and techniques that will help you create optimal learning situations when working with both animals and people. Throughout the weekend, we’ll talk about reinforcement systems, how to shape actions, arranging the environment to facilitate learning, raising criteria, chaining, writing shaping plans, prerequisite behaviors, and errorless learning.
In addition to lectures and discussion, this workshop will allow you to practice your shaping skills with another human as the learner. These exercises will help you learn to problem solve and think more creatively when designing training solutions. You will also get to play the role of the learner, which will give you more insight into how people and animals learn.
The workshop will be limited to a small group of attendees to allow ample time for discussion and questions and so that participants can receive individual coaching during the shaping exercises.
Location:
Washtenaw Community College
4800 E. Huron River Drive
Ann Arbor, MI
(Map)
Registration Fee: $350 per person
CPDT CEUS: 10 CEUs for trainers and 3 CEUs for behavior consultants
KPA CEUS: 12.5
IAABC CEUS Pending
Registration fee includes light refreshments and lunch both days.
Registration will be capped at 30 attendees.
Once you have completed the registration form, you will receive an invoice via QuickBooks (you may pay via Zelle, Venmo, or Credit Card). Your registration will not be completed until you submit your payment.
Please note that this workshop is for humans only. Only service animals will be permitted in the workshop.
Cancellation Policy:
-Full refund up to 30 days in advance of the workshop. No refunds will be given within 30 days.
-The workshop hosts reserve the right to cancel the workshop if the minimum registration has not been met by June 1st.
Hotel Information:
DoubleTree by Hilton Ann Arbor North
3600 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Hotel: (734) 769-9800
We do not have a block of rooms,
but this is the hotel our speaker will be using.
Speaker Bios
Mary Hunter earned an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Chicago in 2008 and a master’s degree in behavior analysis from the University of North Texas in 2013. She runs her own animal training and consulting business and serves as president of The Art and Science of Animal Training, a Texas-based nonprofit that provides educational programs for professional animal trainers. In addition, Mary teaches classes at the University of North Texas as an adjunct instructor. Mary’s main research interests include studying the process of shaping and developing better methods for teaching both people and animals. In 2019, Mary and Dr. Rosales-Ruiz published their first book: “PORTL: The Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab.” You can find Mary online at BehaviorExplorer.com or on her personal blog, StaleCheerios.com
Tentative Workshop Schedule
Saturday – 9:30 am – 5:30 pm
Saturday morning
-Lecture: What is shaping?
-Lecture: What is PORTL?
-Exercises: The reinforcement system
Saturday afternoon
-Lecture: The reinforcement system
-Exercises: Shaping foundations, Part 1
-Lecture: Movement cycles
Sunday – 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
Sunday morning
-Exercises: Shaping foundations, Part 2
-Lecture: Are errors necessary for learning?
-Exercise: Criteria
Sunday afternoon
-Exercise: Chaining
-Lecture: Writing shaping plans
-Exercises: Putting it all together: Shaping challenges
-Question and answer session
Resources and Links about PORTL
Article from Behavior Explorer about PORTL
Animal Training Academy Podcast episode that Mary did about PORTL with Ryan Cartlidge
Dog Talk Podcast episode that Mary did about PORTL with Nick Benger
Video provided by Emily Larlham from the PORTL workshop she hosted in San Diego
Questions?
Email Laura at lauraperkinsanimalbehavior@gmail.com
This Workshop Is Hosted By:
Laura Perkins; Laura Perkins Animal Behavior and
Sara Crockett; Contingent on Kindness Behavior Consulting
Facebook Event Page: Here