FWIW, the book Don't Shoot the Dog advocates rewarding animals when they do better than average.
I really recommend that book by the way.
Second the endorsement, but it's important to understand that the relevant average is the particular animal's current baseline (not, for example, the average behavior of similar individuals). That is, you look at the behavior you're getting, and you reward the top N% of behavior along whatever dimension you want to reinforce. Over time the cluster of behaviors will shift in that direction. Keep rewarding the top N% and it will keep shifting in that direction until other factors make that impossible.
This is the public group instrumental rationality diary for the week of May 28th. It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:
Or anything else interesting which you want to share, so that other people can think about it, and perhaps be inspired to take action themselves. Try to include enough details so that everyone can use each other's experiences to learn about what tends to work out, and what doesn't tend to work out.
Thanks to everyone who contributes!
(Previously: 5/14/12, 5/21/12)