Ridecamp: [RC] "[Horses] don't understand reward and punishment"

  Ok, it's a boring day at work, so I am probably responding to 
too many RC posts, so ignore this if you like - I won't be 
offended ;-)

  I have to beg to differ.  Operant conditioning has been used 
successfully on animals as lowly as earthworms and jellyfish.  
If an animal experiences a positive stimulus (aka "reward") 
while doing something, it is more likely to repeat doing that 
soimething.  If the reward is repeated on a variable schedule, 
it behavior is more likely to be repeated, and persist, even 
when the rewards are stopped.  Conversly, if an animal 
experiences a negative stimulous ("punishment") when doing 
something, it is less likely do do it again.  Timing is 
everything, however: the pos/neg stimulous must immediately 
accompany the behavior being reinforced/dsicouraged.  You can't 
tell the horse "I'm beating you now because you ate your 
blanket last night" - it will have no idea what the punishment 
is for, and probably will associate the pushment with whatever 
it was doing at the time the beating commenced.
Read Karen Pryor's "Don't Beat The Dog" for an excellent 
introduction to operant conditioning (yes, I know I have 
recommended this book 100 times before, but it really is good, 
and is an easy read, and it is NOT a dog training book, despite 
the title).



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