(no subject)

[pktechgirlbackup]

Things I learned from Animals Make Us Human, by Temple Grandin:

• You can train animals more effectively by responding to their intent than what they're doing. So for example, you should give cows mild electric shocks when they move towards the place you want to keep them out of, rather than when they are in the place you don't want them.
  
• Anticipation of pleasure is in many ways more important to animals' psychological health than pleasure itself. This has some interesting applications to humans.
  
• I'd learned this before, but forgotten how you really can train animals to do anything if you're patient enough. This is a useful reminder as I try to integrate a new cat into the household.