I was recently digging through some older training footage and came across a really fun PORTL (Portable Operant Research and Teaching Lab) session I did a while back with the wonderful Lisa Tuthill.
In this session, we explored a fun way to train duration.
Often, when we want to teach an animal (or a human!) to hold a behavior longer, we use the traditional method: we gradually stretch out the time between the behavior starting and the click [and/or other reinforcement]. But in this session, we tried a different strategy.
Watch the session here:
If you’re curious about how PORTL works and why it’s such a powerful tool for animal trainers to sharpen their skills, I highly recommend checking out this previous episode of the Animal Training Academy podcast with Mary Hunger. It’s a great deep dive into the tool
🎧 Listen here: PORTL with Mary Hunter on the ATA Podcast
I’m curious to know – have any of you explored teaching duration as a chain?
Whether you’ve tried it in a PORTL session of your own or with your non-human learners, I would love to hear your thoughts. If you have videos of your process, please share them! Let’s keep those ripples moving.
Happy Training,
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy