Karen Pryor (née Wylie; born May 14, 1932) is an American author who specialized in

behavioral psychology Behaviorism is a systematic approach to understanding the behavior of humans and animals. It assumes that behavior is either a reflex evoked by the pairing of certain antecedent stimuli in the environment, or a consequence of that individual' ...

and

marine mammal Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their ...

biology. She is a founder and proponent of

clicker training Clicker training is a positive reinforcement animal training method based on a bridging stimulus ( the clicker) in operant conditioning. The system uses conditioned reinforcers, which a trainer can deliver more quickly and more precisely than pri ...

. She was formerly a Marine Mammal Commissioner to the U.S. government.

Personal life

Pryor is the daughter of author

Philip Wylie Philip Gordon Wylie (May 12, 1902 – October 25, 1971) was an American writer of works ranging from pulp science fiction, mysteries, social diatribes and satire to ecology and the threat of nuclear holocaust. Early life and career Born in Beve ...

and antiques dealer Sally Ondeck Wylie. Her uncle was Max Wylie, co-creator of ''

The Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book '' The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere ...

''. Her cousin, Janice Wylie, was murdered in 1963 along with her roommate Emily Hoffert in what became known as the

Career Girls Murders The "Career Girls Murders" was the name given by the media to the murders of Emily Hoffert and Janice Wylie in their apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan on August 28, 1963. George Whitmore Jr., was charged with this and other crimes, bu ...

. She was first married to Tap Pryor from 1954 until their divorce in 1975. They had three children: Ted, Michael and Gale. Her second marriage was to Jon Lindbergh, son of aviator

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

and writer

Anne Morrow Lindbergh Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh (June 22, 1906 – February 7, 2001) was an American writer and aviator. She was the wife of decorated pioneer aviator Charles Lindbergh, with whom she made many exploratory flights. Raised in Englewood, New Jerse ...

; they divorced in 1997.

Publications

Books: *''On My Mind: Reflections on Animal Behavior and Learning'' - 2014 *''Reaching The Animal Mind: Clicker Training and What It Teaches Us About All Animals'' - 2009 * ''Click to Win: Clicker Training for the Show Ring'' - 2002 * ''Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles'' -ed. with Kenneth Norris; University of California Press, 1998 * ''Don’t Shoot The Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training'' - 1984, 1999, 2002, 2006 * ''A Dog & a Dolphin 2.0: An Introduction To Clicker Training'' - 1996 * ''Getting Started: Clicker Training for Cats'' - 1999, 2002, 2004 * ''Getting Started: Clicker Training for Dogs'' - 1999, 2002, 2005 * ''Lads Before the Wind'' - 1975, 1994, 2000 (Harper & Row 1975) * ''Nursing Your Baby'' - 1963, 1973, 1991, 2005 (HarperCollins Publishers 1963) * ''On Behavior: Essays and Research'' - 1994 * ''Crunch and Des: Classic Stories of Saltwater Fishing'' - 2002 * ''How To Teach Your Dog To Play Frisbee'' - 1985 * Pryor, K. (2014). A dolphin journey. ''Aquatic Mammals 40th Anniversary: Special Issue,'' 104-115. * Pryor, K. & Chase, S. (2014). Training for variable and innovative behavior. ''International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 27,'' 218-225 * Pryor, K. & Ken Ramirez, K. (2014) Modern Animal Training. In ''The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Operant and Classical Conditioning.'' McSweeney, F.K and Murphy, E. S. (Eds.). * Pryor, K.W (2001). Cultural transmission of behavior in animals: How a modern training technology uses spontaneous social imitation in cetaceans and ''Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24,'' 352-352 * Pryor, K. & Shallenberger, I. (1991). School structure in spotted dolphins (''Stenella attenuata'') in the tuna purse seine fishery in the Eastern Tropical Pacific. In ''Dolphin Societies: Discoveries and Puzzles.'' Pryor, K. & Norris, K.S. (Eds.). Berkeley: University of California Press * Pryor, K. (1981). Why Porpoise Trainers Are Not Dolphin Lovers: Real and False Communication in the Operant Setting. ''Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 364,'' 1, 137 * Norris, K.S., Pryor, K. (1970). A Tagging Method for Small Cetaceans. ''Journal of Mammalogy, 51,'' 3, 609-610 * Pryor, K.W., Haang, R., & O’Reilly, J. (1969). The creative porpoise: Training for novel behavior. ''Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 12,'' 653-661 * Lang, T.G., Pryor, K. (1966). Hydrodynamic Performance of Porpoises (''Stenella attenuata''). ''Science, 152,'' 3721, 531-533. * Pryor, T., Pryor, K.,& Norris, S.K. (1965). Observations on a Pygmy Killer Whale (''Feresa attenuata Gray'') from Hawaii. ''Journal of Mammalogy, 46,'' 3, 450-461.

References

External links

Karen Pryor Clickertraining site

Karen Pryor Clickertraining site

ClickerExpo - Clicker training conference held by Karen Pryor

Karen Pryor Academy - The teaching and training school founded by Karen Pryor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pryor, Karen American psychologists American women psychologists Behaviourist psychologists American family and parenting writers American animal care and training writers Writers from New York (state) Cornell University alumni 1932 births Living people 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers