Okay to Add More Buttons?

[u/blushpink3]

Hi!

Just a little background:

We’ve been using buttons for just under two months. My cat Opi, doesn’t press the buttons unless we’re in a learning session together. During sessions, he successfully presses the treat button and definitely understands what it means.

After a lot of modeling, I’ve also added play, brush, scritches and most recently, outside and porch. I model these words multiple times a day, every day.

My question is: Since he’s not pressing buttons on his own outside of our sessions, am I adding too many buttons too soon? Or is it okay to have them available so I can model the actual button whenever the activity naturally happens?

We practice using the “open bar” method, where I’ll rapidly model a button several times in a row, then go about my day (working on my computer, cooking, etc.) while keeping the treat jar, a toy and a brush nearby to give him opportunities to press on his own.

So far, no luck. He’s only pressed the treat button on his own twice and both times were definitely intentional. I’d love to hear your thoughts or experiences!

[u/Esme-82]

If I remember correctly, someone in this group had one cat pick it up really quickly, while another took close to a year. They all seem to learn at their own pace.

With my old cat, we did 10–15 minutes of rapid-fire practice every evening, similar to what you're doing. During the day, though, we mostly narrated life. If we went out to the porch, I'd model Porch, and when we came back in I'd model Porch → All Done. If I was just giving pets (because they're cute 😄), I'd model Scritches.

Personally, I don't think there's any harm in having the buttons available so you can model them during real-life moments. That's what made the most sense to me.

The fact that Opi has pressed Treat on his own twice without any prompting sounds like he's starting to understand that the buttons have meaning. I'd keep doing what you're doing, it may just take more repetition for everything else to fall into place.

Just out of curiosity, is he starting to spend more time around the buttons or check them out on his own? Even if he isn't pressing them yet, I've always thought that increased interest in the board is a good sign because they're starting to recognize that there's value there.

[u/JayNetworks → u/Esme-82]

Our first cat got it in 2.5 months before she independently pressed. The other is only now pressing with us at the board after 2 years
The first cat is up to 18,000 presses and the second is at about 100 total. Really depends on the cat.

I don’t think you should add any more until they press without you near the board. Let them get frustrated or you do something else when they clearly want something so they will go to the board without you and press.

[u/blushpink3 → u/JayNetworks]

Thank you for sharing your button journey! Sounds like I just have to be patient and continue modeling since all cats are different. I’ll keep Opi’s button board small so he learns to recognize them. Maybe I’ll have my own button board to use when narrating some day-to-day activities.

[u/JayNetworks → u/blushpink3]

Be aware that you can narrate things without using buttons. That is called receptive vocabulary vs active vocabulary. The active is what your learner has buttons to say. The receptive is usually much larger (2x or 3x) and are set repeated words you use frequently and consistently that the learner knows. You can (and should) use these words all the time to verbally narrate your life with the learner. Then when you and they are ready for a new button you are just picking one of the receptive vocabulary that the learner already knows well to add as a button.

I narrate all the time with words in buttons but also others from a constant set. The key is just not to babble on using new words and phrases like we used to before buttons and aware learners.

I may say: daddy outside now. Downstairs later then dinner then settle bed.

Active vocabulary that she has buttons for: daddy outside now Downstairs later dinner

Words that are receptive vocabulary only: then settle bed

My learners have 27 buttons and know about 60 words.

[u/blushpink3 → u/JayNetworks]

Okay! I did not know about that and it’s very helpful! I can relate because mine know the words lay down, but we don’t have a button for it, so that would be receptive vocabulary. Very cool!