40 - The Role of Assent in Animal Training with Anna Linnehan and Awab Abdel-Jalil

Animal Training Fundamentals with Barbara Heidenreich

Assent is a new buzzword in animal training. But what does it really mean? My special guests, Anna Linnehan and Awab Abdel-Jalil, help us understand. These experts in nonlinear contingency analysis and the constructional approach have collaborated, along with others, to publish two articles on assent. They share an overview of their articles. They explain how to evaluate assent to participate and how you can monitor assent throughout a training session. They dissect the difference between genuine assent and apparent assent. Animal trainers have long presumed positive reinforcement is associated with assent, but as we dive into this topic, we discover that procedures that appear “voluntary” can indeed be coercive. As we aim to be compassionate animal trainers, we can use assent to help us improve our procedures. But as my guests remind us, assent is only part of the equation. Enjoy this podcast interview to gain valuable insights into what genuine assent looks like and how it can provide information to improve your training program.