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intermediate-term memory or ITM. This is the location in the brain where, in the opinion of the student, there's a moderate amount of importance. This memory is usually stored for about a week or so. This area in the brain is similar to a shelf we use to place our bills; once we deal with them, others are sent to replace the old ones. New information replaces the old after a certain amount of time. The last level is long-term memory or LTM. After an intensive learning process at the lower levels of memory, finally it is placed in the long-term memory. This is the area in the brain that also shapes the personality of the dog. The dog's behaviors are shaped by the attitudes from past-learned experiences. When we deal with behavior modification we work with the LTM: how the dog has stored information and how we change the way the information is processed depends on the dog's reactions to new information. The process of storing learned material from the lower levels to the long- |
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term memory is called consolidation or learning. Scientists, through the use of laboratory animals, have found that when a pleasant experience follows a learning session, that lesson is easily recalled at a later time. On the other hand, when a session was followed by a shocking experience, that information was not available for retrieval. This is why we suggest that after a session, we play with our dogs to allow the experience to end in pleasure. Also, we never end work through a session when we are angry or frustrated because the dog will sense the unpleasant experience and wish to avoid it and everything associated with it in the future. Always end a session with reward and play for the best-learned experience for the student. |
