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Hello Visitor,
The International Avian Trainers Certification Board and the International Animal Trainers Certification Board, IATCB, offers you a way to gain professional credibility, increase your earnings potential, and advance your career. We live in a competitive world, and animal trainers are no different than anyone else looking for advanced knowledge and skill in their profession. IATCB endorses voluntary certification by examination for all professionals involved with animals, including trainers, educators, handlers, veterinarians, and all others involved in the care and handling of animals.
Cute Aggression: Why We Want to Pinch Babies and Squeeze Puppies
By Kimm Hunt, IATCB Chair/President
Ever feel an overwhelming urge to squeeze, pinch, shake, bite or scream at somethings you found to be unreasonably cute? Sounds horrible when you say it out loud, but most people have. Some languages even have a word for it. In 2015, some Yale PhDs went ahead and labeled it “cute aggression.”
Sometimes when we’re confronted with something that conforms to Konrad Lorenz’s kinderschema, the literal scientific definition of adorableness, we lose it. Features such as a large head; oversized, round eyes and cheeks; a small nose and mouth; a flat face; and a round, soft body elicit a caretaking response and strong, sometimes overwhelming, positive emotion.
When we experience intense emotions, whether positive or negative, we can reach a point where our emotions feel unmanageable and overwhelming. We attempt to regulate our runaway emotions by expressing an opposite one. This is a very common emotional regulation tactic. We cry at weddings, smile through tears, laugh when afraid, scream when happy. We may or may not feel the opposing emotion, but just physically expressing it seems to downregulate the overwhelming one.
Cute aggression is apparently a way for us to get a grip on ourselves when we’re so carried away by positive emotion in response to cuteness that it gets in the way of our caretaking abilities. You’re no good to a needy infant if his butterball cheeks and lilting coos captivate you to the point of paralysis. Experiencing a rush of aggression, and acting on it by playfully growling, squeezing, roughhousing, or just tensing up and yelling, is apparently a way to tone down the extreme joy of being in the presence of profound cuteness.
Next time you see a young parrot, baby beaver, infant polar bear, or newborn tiger and you’re actively restraining yourself from enveloping it in a crushing embrace, know that you’re perfectly normal.
Whether you just completed the exam or have been certified for years, IATCB would love to spotlight you in an upcoming newsletter! Interested? Please e-mail newsletter@IATCB.org for more information. As an added bonus - articles published by IATCB, including spotlights, are eligible for CEUs.
CEUs:
Still looking for ways to get CEUs? We are looking for content for future exams! One CEU is awarded for every 5 test items accepted. Test items are questions and four "answers" to the question. Only one answer should be correct, with the other three answers being distractors. Distractors should seem plausible and not obviously incorrect.
Download the Item Developers' Guide written by our testing company, PTC, for full details of item writing. Email your test items to IATCB.
Connect with us on social media! IATCB is active on Facebook and Instagram. We share training highlights, species spotlights, funny memes, professional development opportunities and more!
IATCB Certification Grant Program
The purpose of the IATCB Certification Exam Grant is to remove financial barriers to certification for applicants volunteering or working in the field of animal/bird training who are interested in pursuing or furthering a training-related career.
IATCB will offer one bird trainer (CPBT-KA) and one animal trainer (CPAT-KA) grant per testing cycle. Please download the application form for more details. The form, when completed should be emailed to grant@iatcb.org.
This information is also on the web site, International Avian Trainers Certification Board - News (iatcb.org)
https://www.iatcb.org/newhome
GET CERTIFIED:
To find the list of recommended reading material go to International Avian Trainers Certification Board - Home (iatcb.org) and go to “Get Certified”
2024/25 Testing Dates
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Application Deadline*
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Testing Dates
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Grant Application Deadline*
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September 17, 2025
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October 1 – October 28, 2025
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July 28, 2025
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*Applications will not be accepted after 11:59pm Eastern on this date
To find the list of recommended reading material go to International Avian Trainers Certification Board - Home (iatcb.org) and click on “Get Certified”
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