Goldie the cat really loves to do death-defying leaps from the middle of the long ledge over the basement stairs to the shorter higher perpendicular ledge above it. It alarms Gary.
Gary Method
Gary has two methods he uses to discourage the cat.
A. Blocking the high ledge with unattractive cardboard boxes.
B. Pleading with the cat. “Goldie, you are the only cat I will have in my life. Please stop jumping like that. You’ll miss your footing and you will die. I don’t want you to die, Goldie.”
(It hasn’t happened yet, but Goldie tells me he plans to jump on top of the boxes. He doesn’t think he’ll miss his footing.)
On the other hand, all I want from Goldie is some attention during the day. Just a couple of visits to the guest room while I’m working, just a few rubs against my calves, and I’m good. This is how I reason with the cat.
I remember the value of intermittent positive reinforcement from my Psychology of Teaching and Learning class. Good behavior followed by reliable reward is powerful; good behavior followed by an intermittent reward is more powerful. (Read a simple explanation here. Read a really complicated explanation here.)
To this end I give him treats randomly when he visits. Three visits in a row he gets treats, then no treat the next visit. “NO TREAT?” the cat says. “WE HAZ AN ARRANGEMENT.” Cat can’t stay out of my room now. “WHAT IS THE TREAT SCHEDULE? I READ ABOUT IT ON WIKIPEDIA. WHEN DOES THE TREAT HAPPEN? I MUST WORK OUT THE PATTERN.”