NYTimes_20250205_A20

Karen Pryor had many interests. She was an observer of the smallest detail (as a child she studied butterfly anatomy) but what made her life's work exceptional was that she also saw the big picture. It would have been enough that Karen was one of the first marine mammal trainers who used behavior science and positive reinforcement, but she took that experience and turned it into a culture-changing perspective on animal behavior, communication between species, and humanity. We are all fortunate that Karen was an effective and engaging writer, making her observations accessible to readers worldwide.

In the real world, using her perspective, she brought positive reinforcement (clicker) training to the dog and zoo worlds, gave confidence to hundreds of thousands of breast-feeding women, developed techniques for teaching people with autism, and changed how surgeons learn their skills which in turn creates less stressful and more error-free operation rooms. The common thread through all of her work is how she effectively reduces gratuitous violence and creates a culture that is productive, yet filled with kindness.