CHAPTER Five
An Acquired Taste
Mealtime

AFTER A LONG morning of working with the whales, Amy and her coworkers were listening to another of Clint Jordan’s pep talks. “We’re very careful about first impressions here,” he said. “We pay lots of attention to what we call core memory, meaning that we want the whales to have a positive experience from the get-go, particularly when we’re starting out to train a new behavior. And that goes for you folks as well. We want you to associate only good feelings with working here.

“When people start new jobs, they’re usually asked to observe, but here we’re kind of crazy about the matter of observation. As in all scientific inquiry, careful observation is one of the ingredients of success in working with killer whales—or any animal. Watching and mentally recording what you see is a skill that will place you ahead of those who rely merely on hearsay or traditional thinking or who carelessly work from assumptions. Your biggest task in getting to know these animals will be to earn their trust. Painstaking observation will give you an edge with them, because they’ll sense right away how responsive you are to their ways, their habits, and the differences in their preferences.

“So observe! Keep your eyes open around here. How do the whales relate to each other? What are the whales doing when they are not being trained? What are they doing with each other? Which whales hang out with each other?

“Observing the animals is the key to so much we do,” Clint continued. “For example, one of the most important reinforcing things that we use with the whales is tactile. We started doing rubs when we observed the whales rubbing on the pool sides and each other. Now tactile rewards can be one of the most important ones we give the whales.”

After lunch, Amy and Kim Lee were preparing the fish buckets for feeding the whales when they noticed that the new shipment included squid. “This was ordered for dietary reasons,” Kim Lee said. “Just like kids, the whales are probably not going to go for it because of the difference in texture and taste.”

“What do we do, then?” Amy said.

“We’ll work a training session and teach Sagu to accept taking the squid,” Kim Lee replied. “Ask Sagu to swim over here.”

Amy called Sagu over by splashing the side of the pool. Kim Lee had set up two buckets, one with Sagu’s favorite fish and the other with squid. She started feeding the whale the food he was used to. While he was swallowing it, she slipped a squid in with the other fish and dropped it in when he opened his mouth. While the squid was on the way down, she offered Sagu more of the familiar fish he liked. She kept alternating the buckets this way, and finished by feeding the whale only from the fish bucket.

“Now, didn’t he do well?” Kim Lee said. Amy agreed, and both began giving Sagu a good rubdown as a reward.

“Rrrrrrrrrrrrr! Here comes a cargo airplane preparing to land!” Matt was aiming a spoon with a pea on it at Josh’s mouth. Unfortunately, the hangar doors were shut tightly while the aircraft was still circling. Moreover, Josh was shaking his head vigorously.

Matt looked helplessly across the table at Amy. “You’re smiling,” he said, putting the spoon down. “I’ll just bet you’ve got a SeaWorld story for this very situation.”

“Funny you should say that,” Amy said. “It brings up something I learned just the other day.” She told Matt about the technique she and Kim Lee had used with Sagu.

“Will it work in the long run?” Matt asked.

Amy nodded. “The very next day I was able to feed Sagu most of a half-bucket of squid, mixed with a little less fish. I was careful to reward that, too. Pretty soon he and the others we do this routine with will be eating squid independently of the fish treat.”

Josh started playfully banging his spoon on his high-chair tray.

“Hold on, my man,” said Matt. He turned to Amy. “So what’s the plan? How are we going to get these peas into this boy’s stomach?”

“We need something he likes,” said Amy, thinking of the method she and Kim Lee had used with Sagu. “But we shouldn’t change now to something he likes. That would be letting Josh dictate the change by not eating. We don’t want to reward poor behavior.”

“Okay, then, next time,” Matt agreed. “What’s some favorite food of his we can use to slip some peas to him? Wait—I know.”

“Mac and cheese!” both parents chanted together.

“We’ll start with the treat and add a pea,” said Amy. “Then start switching and substituting back and forth. When Josh eats a pea without the macaroni, we’ll make a big deal about it and then stop asking him to eat the peas.”

“In other words, don’t push it,” said Matt.

“Right. Wait until another meal and work on it again. Praise progress, but don’t try to fix the whole problem in one session or meal. If we take small steps, we’ll eventually get there.”

The next evening when dinner time came, Amy had the favored casserole heating up. When she brought a dishful to the table, Josh’s eyes lit up. The parents followed their plan, and it worked.

“Yay, Josh!” Mom and Dad cheered.

After giving his son a hug, Matt said, “You know, Josh might not grow up liking to eat what we want him to eat.”

“It’s no different than with the whales,” Amy replied. “The point is not to get him to like these foods. It’s to get him to eat them. If he gets used to them, one day he’s likely to choose them on his own.”

After Josh was in bed, Amy said to Matt, “One of the most interesting things I’m learning from the whales about the all-important response to the behavior—the consequence—is the importance of variable reinforcement.”

“Uh, could you spell that out in plain English for me, honey?” Matt asked.

Amy grinned. “It means that the ways we reinforce Josh’s good behavior—that is, the ways we reward or recognize what he does right—need to be constantly varied. Clint was telling us that when he first came on board, the standard way to show the killer whales they’d performed the right behavior was food. After a while, with a fish treat being the standard operating procedure, the animals were less responsive. They liked the treats, but the reward itself had lost its potency when it became the same old expected response. They found that the whales’ interest perked up when the rewards were varied. Clint said that when the trainers added rubdowns, play times, new toys, and other rewards to the fish treats, and constantly mixed up the order in which they were given, the whales showed more alertness—even more creativity in their performance. When the animals didn’t know what was coming next, they had more energy and aliveness.”

“It sure makes sense to continually surprise the whales when rewarding them for doing the right thing,” said Matt. “So, applying that principle to Josh, we need to use—what did you call it?”

“Variable reinforcement,” Amy repeated.

“Right. We need to use . . . what you said . . . in working with Josh.”

During the next several days, the couple compiled a variety of Whale Dones they could give to their son. They started by brainstorming the many ways they could use verbal reinforcement:

“I’m so proud of you, Josh.”

“Look what you did! You [got undressed all by yourself].”

“Good for you, honey!”

“Do you know how this helps Mommy?”

“When you [eat all your vegetables], it makes me happy.”

“I’m going to tell Daddy what you did so well.”

“I like the way you [are being gentle with your friend].”

“It makes me so happy when you [use the potty].”

“You deserve [an extra chapter of our bedtime story] for [saying please].”

“Josh is a [putting-toys-away] champ!”

They improved the Whale Done sticker chart. They filled a basket with little trinkets of the sort that Josh liked. Amy made a grab bag her son could reach into, which included dried fruits and other treats. Soon they had created a Whale Done tool kit of items. By following through on their plan to change the rewards continuously, each time they responded to a positive behavior of Josh’s, he never knew what was coming. One time his cleaning up his plate would be followed by a verbal praising; later when he was told it was bedtime and cooperated willingly, he got to enjoy a short original tale, starring himself, when he was in bed.

Whale Done Notes
MEALTIME

Set things up for success

Mealtime should be fun, but it can be a headache when a child is resistant to some food the parent rightly wants included in the diet. Start with a plan for making the experience enjoyable, then get creative! Be sure your child is hungry (don’t give him snacks or milk just before mealtime). Camouflaging new foods is okay, but never use dessert items to tempt a child for meal items. You can make dessert the reward for eating all that is presented at that meal. Again, don’t expect it to happen all at once. Take small steps and praise the progress.

Ignore failure and/or redirect

If your child spits food out, find another way. (For example, in introducing Josh to peas, the next mealtime after such an episode, Amy might have purchased the peas in pods and had Josh help her shell them, building interest in the food.) If possible, explain to your child the fun of having many, rather than few, items on the menu. Introduce each new food in a special way, knowing that you are helping your child become accustomed to a life-long acceptance of a healthy, well-rounded diet. Also, be aware that your own mealtime behavior can communicate louder than words. Avoid sending the message “Don’t eat what I eat; eat what I say!”

Give a Whale Done!

Always make a fuss whenever your child includes a new food or overcomes an aversion to something. Notice and reward even small steps or approximate successes. Often parents use food as reward or reinforcement for good behavior, but children can come to expect these things every time they act in a desirable manner. Varying rewards is important—from verbal praisings, to treats, to toys, to special privileges, and so on. A Whale Done sticker chart works well, as does an extra story at bedtime or a grab bag with pencils, stickers, and other trinkets. When your child performs well in some area for a week, he gets to pull out a prize.