#3 Negative Reinforcement and Animals

 I wanted to talk about negative reinforcement and animals. One thing I find interesting is the difference between dogs and cats when it comes to training and obedience. It has been proven that no animal, dog or cat, responds well to  negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is defined as, "when something unpleasant or uncomfortable is removed or taken away in order to increase the likelihood of the desired behavior"(Article). Dogs and Cats have pretty different forms of motivation. Some studies have proven that both species are food motivated, or reward motivated. However, dogs also have an enate drive to please their owner, and to serve a purpose for their owner. Cats did not show nearly any signs of regard for pleasing their owner, or serving their owner. Both species do not understand punishment, or negative reinforcement, and do not hold onto any "lesson" learned from said punishments. Both animals will instinctively feel scared, anxious, and confused.