The ecological approach to psychology was presented by psychologist James Gibson and stresses the importance of the environment to the actions of an organism. According to ecological psychology, an analysis of the environment in which an organism is in can shed light on the organism's choice of behaviors.
While the ecological approach can be studied over many semesters and includes a great deal of thought and information, there is one central concept that can help when training dogs. This concept was termed "affordances" by James Gibson. While there is some debate among researchers of ecological psychology about the exact definitions of "affordances", the basic idea is that "affordances" are opportunities for action in the environment. One can also say that "affordances" are invitations to act on the environment. For example, for a human, a pen invites holding and writing. For a dog, however, the same pen invites chewing. similarly, a wooden chair invites a person to sit, but invites a dog to carry around or, again, to chew.
Our environment is filled with "affordances" and our dogs' environment is filled with "affordances" as well. Indeed, in a certain environment there are several invitations to act. Think of a dog in a living room. The living room environment has many affordances for the dog. There are cables to pull, sofas to chew, shoes to grab, windows to climb through, etc. In this "affordances" rich environment, the dog is likely to behave in accordance with the most inviting "affordances".
Why am I telling you this? well, simply because we can actually control the "affordances" in the environment. Dog trainers sometimes call this "management". If we manage the environment in such a way that it "affords" certain (wanted) behaviors, and at the same time does not afford other (unwanted) behaviors, we are on the right track of behavior management.
But what about the training session? what about when we try to teach a dog to perform a certain behavior. Again, if we arrange the environment in such a way that it "affords" certain behaviors (or invites certain behaviors), we can help our dogs learn the wanted behavior faster.
So look at the following video. It is in Hebrew but don't worry about it. Just look at the environment and try to figure out what I did in order to create an affordance that will help my dog to succeed in her task to open the fridge door. Once you're done, scroll down and I will explain it.
So what did I do. If you're answer is that I placed a chair just behind the fridge, you are correct. Why did I put it there? Well, if the chair was not there, the towel on the fridge's door invites several behaviors. The dog can pull it in many directions. But wait, if the dog pulls the towel in the wrong angle, the door won't open. Indeed, the handle can be broken. I want the dog to pull the towel attached to the handle in an angle that will open the door. By placing the chair just beyond the door, I have created an environment that invites the dog to pull the towel in an angle that will open the door.
Now, could I have trained this behavior without adding the chair? Absolutely. I can shape every behavior purely - without adjusting the environment. However, sometimes it can be very useful to arrange the environment in a certain way.
One thing to remember that eventually, I will need to get rid of that chair. I will have to it gradually but once the correct behavior is learned and reinforced consistently, there is no reason for the dog to start pulling in a different angle.
So try to think about "affordances" the next time you train your dog. What does your environment look like? Does the environment affords the correct behaviors? Or does it invite incorrect behaviors. By thinking about this, you can help your dog succeed.
Happy training.