For years trainers have successfully maintained behavior by balancing consistency and variability. However, after nearly four years of reliable behavior from one of our rescued resident California sea lions (Zalophus californianus), we suddenly saw a significant breakdown in his response to the LRS and the willingness to gate and heel; the sudden loss of his fundamental repertoire raised concerns.

After an observation period, we theorized that he may be most successful with predictable scenarios, and consistency, rather than increased variability. We established an approach that we called: “maintain, challenge, challenge, maintain.” Employing this strategy, we conducted four training sessions a day. For his first session, we would maintain the progress he made from the day before. For his second and third sessions, we would challenge him by increasing our successive approximations. For his fourth, and final, session of the day we would maintain the progress he made that day. By maintaining consistency with this approach, we found he improved his foundational/fundamental behaviors. This approach also helped us to quickly train novel, complex behaviors. We were able to obtain first-hand experience on how different animals respond to variability – and how consistency was key!

About the presenter:

Allison Lacour is a senior trainer at Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park and cares for Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions, Asian small-clawed otters, African penguins, and harbor seals. She is currently the intern coordinator and area lead of sea lions. Allison graduated from Troy University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in applied behavior analysis.