Beyond the spray bottle: Behaviour Modification principles for cat owners.
Written by Rita of Vivace Cats.

Classical conditioning

Also called Pavlovian conditioning. This takes place when the cat forms an association between a neutral stimulus & a conditional response. Because Pavlov's dogs heard a tone while they had food in their mouths, an association was formed & the dogs drooled when they heard the tone again, without the meal present. This happens to all living beings. A cat at a show can develop a conditional fear of the cage due to the loud noises etc., happening, even though the cage itself is harmless. If it is sufficiently traumatic, then a single event is all it takes. One of my Somali neuters developed a conditional fear of our cat run, because the lawn mower frightened him while he was in it. I knew it was specific to the cat run, as he was more than happy to go outside on a lead. It took quite a few sessions to desensitize him. Associations can be pleasant, of course, and cats can be counter-conditioned to form a more positive association, usually with the use of food.

Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning refers to learning that takes place from cause and effect. If there is a consequence to a behaviour that a cat likes, he or she is more likely to repeat it, conversely if the consequence is unpleasant, it may be less likely.   A reinforcer is the consequence that would cause the repeat behaviour, a punisher is anything that may cause it to stop. For example, an Abyssinian kitten may jump on your lap because he likes the strokes he gets there (reinforcement) yet may desist (eventually!) jumping on top of the bird cage if given a squirt from the bottle (punishment). Pretty common sense…Now, reinforcement can be either positive or negative depending on if you are adding or subtracting. Adding a pleasant consequence (such as stroking) is a positive reinforcement. Yet if there was an unpleasant situation already, and we took the unpleasantness away, then we may also cause the behaviour to repeat. In this way, we also get positive punishment (adding a negative consequence, like a squirt of water) and negative punishment (removal of a pleasant consequence – say stroking – the cat may cease its lap-sitting behaviour if you stop the stroking).

So to summarise:

Armed with this understanding, we can set about trying to teach our cats things. Either withdrawing the pleasant consequence (negative punishment), or positive punishment (eg spray bottle) can decrease undesirable behaviour. Extinction of behaviour occurs either way. However, it is important to remember that upon withdrawal of reinforcement, most living beings will redouble their efforts before they stop. After all, it always worked before! So the undesirable behaviour may get worse before it gets better, however be persistent and the behaviour will be extinguished. Consistency is also very important. If I give in occasionally when a little Somali girl begs for food from the table, I will be intermittently reinforcing her behaviour, which makes extinction very difficult. Same principle the pokies use – the pay off may be the next time, or the next time – so keep on trying! If reinforcement ceases altogether, extinction is much quicker.

It may be apparent now that identification of the antecedents and consequences to a given behaviour is of supreme importance. We may unwittingly reinforce problem behaviour by lavishing attention after the behaviour, and ignore the cat when it is behaving well, because the good behaviour is unobtrusive. Therefore reinforcing good behaviour is extremely important. If our Aby kitten jumps on the birdcage, he will get a squirt. However, when he sits on the chair in the room with the bird, and pays it little or no attention, he has earned a reward. Shaping this behaviour is very useful. It may be that an Aby kitten cannot be expected to ignore the bird for an hour, so there is no chance of rewarding him. He should then be rewarded for staying put for, say, one minute, then five, then 15, and gradually increase the amount of time he needs to demonstrate the good behaviour. Most behaviours can be shaped in this way, by reinforcing behaviours that may not be perfect initially, but get successively closer. Most animal trainers work this way.

To be effective, food reinforcers (treats) should be given only after the desired behaviour. I have started with new treats which the cats trample over each other to get, however they get them only after events such as a bath, having pills, or at shows, to reinforce compliance and to create a more pleasant association with these situations.

Suggested applications

For shy cats, provide visitors with treats to teach them that strangers can be good people to know.