CPDT KA REVIEW GUIDE 2026
VERIFIED QUESTIONS WITH
COMPLETE ANSWERS
◉ Classical Conditioning - Pavlov.
Answer: Learned association between 2 events: 1 event is neutral and 1
event elicits an unconditioned response. Works with
INVOLUNTARY/automatic behaviors (like drooling) and placing a
neutral sign (like ringing a bell) BEFORE it.
◉ Learning.
Answer: a change in behavior that lasts for a long time
◉ Performance.
Answer: the doing of a behavior, doesn't mean that something was
learned
◉ Discriminative Stimulus.
Answer: Your command
◉ Temporary Criteria.
Answer: the beginning steps of an exercise towards performing a
command that is new to the dog
◉ Reward Based Training.
,Answer: uses positive reinforcement (rewards) and negative punishment
(removing something the dog likes - i.e. your attention)
◉ Primary Reinforcer.
Answer: food, water, anything dog needs for survival. Food activates
parasympathetic nervous system, can calm dog, make him less fearful, &
result in training process being enjoyable
◉ Secondary Reinforcer aka Conditioned Reinforcer.
Answer: Clicker, saying "yes", . . . marks a behavior as rewardable and
promises reward in near future. Rewards such as tennis balls, petting,
clapping, tug- dog is conditioned to like them. ALL OF THESE ARE
LEARNED THROUGH CLASSICAL CONDITIONING.
◉ Tertiary Reinforcer.
Answer: cues the dog knows and enjoys doing. the doing is the
reinforcer
◉ One of the most important points about reinforcement.
Answer: Do not feed or reinforce unwanted behaviors during training
◉ Shaping.
Answer: rewards dog for successive approximations of the behavior
◉ Luring.
,Answer: lead the dog into the behavior by tempting with a treat
◉ Prompting.
Answer: Much like luring only the animal can't see the treat
◉ Chaining.
Answer: method of teaching a complex sequence of behaviors. each
behavior signals the other behavior that eventually signals a reward.
Doing this from the last step to the first step is usually the most efficient
way - with the last behavior trained first, followed by a reward. Then
teach the behavior that will preceed that one, etc, etc.
◉ Free Shaping.
Answer: No instruction, cues or input is given, except for the clicker.
◉ Stimulus Control.
Answer: how a dog responds to cue
◉ Under stimulus control.
Answer: when dog does not:
1. refuse to give behavior when cued to do so
2.give the behavior if not cued to do so
3.give the behavior for a different cue
4. give a different behavior on the cue
, ◉ Superstitious Behavior.
Answer: some irrelevant behavior that the dog performs along with the
desired one thinking that it's required to earn the reward. Usually the
result of an accidental reinforcement
◉ VSR.
Answer: Variable Schedules of Reinforcement - for fluency
◉ Differential Reinforcement.
Answer: A type of VSR where we look for the best examples of the
behavior to reward & ignore other offers
◉ Limited Hold.
Answer: (VSR) Reward is available only for a certain length of time. It
rewards the SPEED of response.
◉ Operant conditioning.
Answer: Majority of dog training is this type
◉ Habituation.
Answer: A decrease in the strength of a naturally elicited behavior that
occurs through repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus.
VERIFIED QUESTIONS WITH
COMPLETE ANSWERS
◉ Classical Conditioning - Pavlov.
Answer: Learned association between 2 events: 1 event is neutral and 1
event elicits an unconditioned response. Works with
INVOLUNTARY/automatic behaviors (like drooling) and placing a
neutral sign (like ringing a bell) BEFORE it.
◉ Learning.
Answer: a change in behavior that lasts for a long time
◉ Performance.
Answer: the doing of a behavior, doesn't mean that something was
learned
◉ Discriminative Stimulus.
Answer: Your command
◉ Temporary Criteria.
Answer: the beginning steps of an exercise towards performing a
command that is new to the dog
◉ Reward Based Training.
,Answer: uses positive reinforcement (rewards) and negative punishment
(removing something the dog likes - i.e. your attention)
◉ Primary Reinforcer.
Answer: food, water, anything dog needs for survival. Food activates
parasympathetic nervous system, can calm dog, make him less fearful, &
result in training process being enjoyable
◉ Secondary Reinforcer aka Conditioned Reinforcer.
Answer: Clicker, saying "yes", . . . marks a behavior as rewardable and
promises reward in near future. Rewards such as tennis balls, petting,
clapping, tug- dog is conditioned to like them. ALL OF THESE ARE
LEARNED THROUGH CLASSICAL CONDITIONING.
◉ Tertiary Reinforcer.
Answer: cues the dog knows and enjoys doing. the doing is the
reinforcer
◉ One of the most important points about reinforcement.
Answer: Do not feed or reinforce unwanted behaviors during training
◉ Shaping.
Answer: rewards dog for successive approximations of the behavior
◉ Luring.
,Answer: lead the dog into the behavior by tempting with a treat
◉ Prompting.
Answer: Much like luring only the animal can't see the treat
◉ Chaining.
Answer: method of teaching a complex sequence of behaviors. each
behavior signals the other behavior that eventually signals a reward.
Doing this from the last step to the first step is usually the most efficient
way - with the last behavior trained first, followed by a reward. Then
teach the behavior that will preceed that one, etc, etc.
◉ Free Shaping.
Answer: No instruction, cues or input is given, except for the clicker.
◉ Stimulus Control.
Answer: how a dog responds to cue
◉ Under stimulus control.
Answer: when dog does not:
1. refuse to give behavior when cued to do so
2.give the behavior if not cued to do so
3.give the behavior for a different cue
4. give a different behavior on the cue
, ◉ Superstitious Behavior.
Answer: some irrelevant behavior that the dog performs along with the
desired one thinking that it's required to earn the reward. Usually the
result of an accidental reinforcement
◉ VSR.
Answer: Variable Schedules of Reinforcement - for fluency
◉ Differential Reinforcement.
Answer: A type of VSR where we look for the best examples of the
behavior to reward & ignore other offers
◉ Limited Hold.
Answer: (VSR) Reward is available only for a certain length of time. It
rewards the SPEED of response.
◉ Operant conditioning.
Answer: Majority of dog training is this type
◉ Habituation.
Answer: A decrease in the strength of a naturally elicited behavior that
occurs through repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus.
