Zoo animals become artists, with operant conditioning

"At the Louisville Zoo, it's not art for art's sake; it's for the sake of the animals -- and, as often as not, their human keepers too.....Keepers bond with the animals -- even through something as abstract as art -- through operant conditioning [0], 'a training that really is a form of communicating with the animals,' said Diana DeVaughn, the zoo's media/promotions coordinator. 'It builds their trust' by forming an association between a behavior [0] and a positive consequence [0]."

Artists in training [1]

About the author Miranda Hersey Helin is a writer and editor at Pen and Press [2], an editorial services and consulting company. Her writing credits include the Boston Globe, the Boston Globe Magazine, Bay Area Parent, Exceptional Parent, and Carve Magazine.