Punishment is any consequence that discourages a behavior after or while the behavior is being performed. Punishment can be natural or artificial (man-made).

Example of Artificial Punishment: If you yell at your dog for eating from the trash can he may be afraid to eat from the trash can in the future. This punishment is artificial because a human designed it to stop the dogs from eating from the trash.

Example of Natural Punishment: If your dog cuts his mouth on a piece of broken glass while eating from the trash can, then he has been naturally punished by the broken glass. It is natural because no human intended for the glass to punish the dog, it just happened naturally.

Punishment discourages a specific behavior and is the opposite of Reinforcement which promotes a behavior.

Reinforcement has been clinically proven to shape behavior more effectively then punishment on all animals and people who were tested.

Punishment in Parrot Training

Mild forms of Punishment can sometimes be effective in parrot training but all professional parrot trainers prefer to use rewards (or reinforcement) instead when ever possible. The reason is that parrots will quickly lose trust in a trainer that frequently delivers punishment.

Many bird owners have found that covering a bird’s cage with a blanket when the parrot is screaming can cause the parrot to scream less often. Unfortunately this form of punishment has caused some birds to start plucking feathers. It is highly recommended parrot owners reinforce quiet behavior instead of trying to punish screaming.

parrot training, punishment