Constructional Affection is a training procedure that uses affection in the form of petting, stroking, gentle scratching, or other similar tactile contact, as a reinforcer to build desirable behavior. Companion animals live with us, and by delivering our interaction and affection in a specific way, we can effectively teach desirable behaviors and be able to obtain the kind of life we dream of. You will learn the behavior analytic concepts and training procedure through our lectures, exercises, sharing your training, and discussion. Throughout the class, you will learn the Constructional Approach (Goldiamond, 1974/2002; Layng, et al., 2022) - the approach that we take to understand behaviors, how to conduct and interpret assessments to understand what the animal is after, Constructional Affection - the training procedure to turn undesirable behaviors maintained by our attention and interaction into desirable behaviors maintained by our interaction and affection. At the end of each class, we will leave you with an actionable assignment. You can follow along with the weekly assignment by applying the assessment and Constructional Affection with your animal or your client's animal! You can share assessment and training videos in the group classes and Open Houses and get our advice and feedback to improve your next session! You will have a deeper understanding of how Constructional Affection works by actually doing it! *If you are concerned with aggressive or fearful behaviors and want to learn how to solve them, we recommend registering for the Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT) group class. Learning Objectives: State the five components of the Constructional Approach Plan, conduct, and interpret assessments Describe what Constructional Affection is and the two phases Describe the benefits of Constructional Affection in building better relationships and clear communication between animal companions and humans Practice applying the Interaction Guidelines (first step of Constructional Affection) Practice applying the Affection Loop (second step of Constructional Affection) Plan and implement shaping steps for an affection loop Describe what Degrees of Freedom are and their importance to animal welfare and training

Sponsor:Constructional Approach to Animal Welfare and Training (CAAWT)
Speaker(s):Sean Will M.S., ABD & Maasa Nishimuta M.S., BCBA

Contact: Sean Will
 Email: caawtcontact@gmail.com
 Phone: 940-999-6235
 Web: https://www.caawt.com/constructional-affection