Need advice on rewarding for talking

[DRB]

So Perjo has started to talk, and she is really saying hello a lot now, and most likely b/c I have been rewarding her nearly every time she says it, and doing so with a treat (sunflower kernels). Obviously too much of any thing is not good, and I only give her one kernel sometimes two. But what is the best way to handle this moving forward, b/c she is obviously going to say the word more and more naturally as she grows and yet she knows it get her a treat at this point.

What is the best way to reward her for the accomplish of saying the word without filling her with treats?

 

[chris-md]

i would say start substituting attention (big fuss, hooting and hollering) for SOME treats. There's a training concept called variable reinforcement whereby once the desired behavior is established, you partially phase out the rewards, and reward after every 3/4/5 (take your pick) instance of the behavior.

If you sense the talking has become somewhat established at this point, you might be a good candidate for moving to variable reinforcement.

 

[LeaKP]

Greys are very vocal naturally and you may find that the more you talk to Perjo the more she will talk. Just talk to her as much as possible, engage with her and I'm sure she will go far beyond what you even hoped for.

Just my experience with my greys

 

[wrench13]

Salty decides sometimes that a given trick requires more treat then usual. Stacking his cups is a good example. He decides sometimes to stop in the middle of stacking cups that, hey this is work, how about some incentive here? Not every time but some times. For talking we have only used vocal encouragement, saying the word or phrase back to him. Salty talks fine. He learns a lot from YouTube ..... go figure.

 

[Kentuckienne]

Dr. Pepperberg trained Alex to name objects and his reward was the object. If he said wood, or blue, or paper etc. he could have it to chew. So he learned to ask for what he wanted. Maybe it's time to teach more words!

 

[cnyguy]

You've received some good suggestions. Enthusiastic praise often is a welcome reward for parrots. You might offer other treats besides sunflower seeds-- if Perjo has a favorite fruit, for example, give her a liitle of that as a reward instead of a seed.

 

[GaleriaGila]

The Rb mimics more frequently and more precisely as a result of my return vocalizations (oohs, ahhhs, noises, repeating). No doubt.

 

[Kentuckienne]

The Rb mimics more frequently and more precisely as a result of my return vocalizations (oohs, ahhhs, noises, repeating). No doubt.

Except for J-Lo booty songs. He just likes those on his own.