How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Banishment

Techniques > Conditioning > Prevention > Banishment

Description | Example | Discussion | See also

Description

One option when you have a problem with a subject is to send them away. It is seldom the best option, but it is an option.

When the subject is not ready to learn, when they are aggressive or just are not paying attention, sometimes the best option is to stop the training session and restart it at another time.

Example

A dog keeps barking in the house to get attention. When this happens, its owner silently takes it outside and ignores further barking. After this happens several times, the dog gets the idea that barking is not going to get the attention they want by barking.

A teenager is misbehaving in the car. Their parents stops the car and tells them to get out. There is then a kerbside conversation where the child has to negotiate to be allowed back in the car rather than face a three mile walk home. The parents know that (a) the walk is safe, and (b) the child does not want to lose time in walking that distance.

Discussion

While you cannot 'shoot the dog', you can move the offending subject elsewhere relative to you. Banishment can effectively include constraining or containing of subjects. For example a way of stopping a dog soiling the floor is to constrain it to its bed, which it is unlikely to soil. 

You can banish yourself, too. Sometimes you are not ready, have other things on your mind, are tired, irritable or otherwise are unable to put yourself fully into the learning session.

See also

Negative Reinforcement