Have bear cannisters had any noticeable affect in the Adirondacks

[Dugan]

I believe mice have been the subjects for much of that type of conditioning. It's been shown that intermittent rewarding causes the same behavior in most animals. However, I am certainly no doctor.

Excellent post by Nartreb. Anyone interested in further reading about this kind of thing should check out Karen Pryor's book "Don't Shoot the Dog"

Yes, this has been used successfully on all sorts of animals - mice, squirrels, cats, dog, sheep, horses, humans, etc., and probably bears too. A behavior with a variable reward schedule is the toughest to extinguish. A behavior with reinforced with a variable reward is the easiest to strengthen.

 

[nartreb]

For more reading, you can take it from the horse's mouth: B.F. Skinner.

_The Behavior of Organisms_ (1938)

_Science & Human Behavior_ (1953)

_Schedules of Reinforcement_ (1957).

His writing is a lot more readable than you might expect, but still a little bulky for backpacking.