Quote Originally Posted by Dirthawking View Post
Punishment is a rolled up newspaper. Not that anybody would ever recommend doing that to a bird.....
Punishment is anything that reduces the likelihood of a behavior happening again, and it IS used in falconry a lot. What you described is punitive punishment, when you add (+) an unpleasant consequence after the bad behavior. The bird bates? The anklets hold it by the legs, putting pressure and creating discomfort which (hopefully) lessens the likelihood of bating. Negative reinforcement is a reward that happens when the unpleasant consequence is removed after a good behavior. The hawk goes back to the fist or perch, removing (-) the pressure/discomfort and rising the chances of returning to the perch/fist.

There is also negative punishment, when you remove(-) or don't give a pleasant consequence after the bad behavior. Negative punishment is also highly used in falconry: you come back sloppily when called? No food. You don't succeed at catching that prey? No food.

Punishment can be very subtle, much more subtle than a rolled newspaper...

Dillon, this thread is awesome and resumes my thoughts about manning and flooding. I was much more careful with my 2nd bird than my 1st, but will be even more in the future.