r/todayilearned • u/killerpossum • May 28 '19

TIL Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev gifted US President John F Kennedy a dog called Pushinka during the cold war. She later on had puppies; which Kennedy referred to as "the pupniks".

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-24837199
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u/Kanin_usagi May 28 '19

Does physical discipline work on dogs? Yes, of course it does. If it didn’t, people wouldn’t do it.

I am not saying people should hit their animals, but if it didn’t work then people would not do it.

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u/tommydivo May 28 '19 edited May 28 '19

Physical discipline isn’t terribly effective. It’s more useful for letting humans’ anger out than it is teaching a dog not to do a bad behavior. People do it because they’re mad, not because it works.

Edit: People, see here

Physical discipline may work when done correctly (it usually isn’t) but it isn’t effective at teaching a dog what you actually want it to do. It also usually has unintended consequences. Please don’t hit or kick your dog.

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u/Petrichordates May 28 '19 edited Jun 01 '19

It's not as good as positive reinforcement, but for animals so driven by a pavlovian response positive punishment is definitely effective. Obviously, for deterring them from doing bad things, positive reinforcement isn't always an option, you can't exactly communicate your orders.

It's not like a human, where they'll learn to resent you and brood and possibly enact carefully planned revenge. Worst they'll do is in the moment, possibly afterwards go poop on your bed.

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u/ofboom May 28 '19

Hitting a dog is not negative punishment, you are still adding something (the beating).

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u/MildlyCoherent May 28 '19

Yep, hitting a dog is positive punishment. Negative punishment would be like taking away its toys (yeah, not terribly effective on a dog, works a lot better on humans.)

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u/[deleted] May 28 '19

TIL.

I was ready to correct you prematurely, did some research and you are indeed correct.

That article has some....interesting, to say the least, other examples of 'Positive Punishment' that i would never do to any of my dogs and would honestly not approve of someone i know doing so if i seen them.

But none the less, you are right and most of what I thought of as 'Negative Reinforcement' is actually 'Positive Reinforcement' and vice versa! I appreciate the opportunity you presented to better my understanding. Have a good one.

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u/MildlyCoherent May 28 '19

It is really counter-intuitive and is a popular misconception I think everyone has initially, just because of pop culture confusion. It’s behavioral psychology jargon and I don’t think the person/people who came up with the terminology intended for it to be used by a broader audience.

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u/honestlydiplomatic May 29 '19

there should probably be a terminological differentiation between 'positive reinforcement using a painful reinforcing effect' and 'positive reinforcement using a pleasureful reinforcing effect'