 |
Re: [RC] Getting in the trailer - mcalex> Similar thought: A food trained dog will work for you only because he is looking for the > next treat, not because he wants to please you. A food trained dog will work for you because he has learned that doing something you want results in something he wants. A correction-trained dog will work for you because he has learned that not doing something you want results in something he doesn't want. All of us -- horses, dog, people, anteaters -- work for one of two reasons: to get something we want (positive reinforcement) or to avoid something we don't want (negative reinforcement). In both cases, the "something" may be internal or external. Examples: I do charity work because it makes me feel good, because I like feeling like I've helped someone. (Internal positive reinforcement) I avoid my neighbor in the store because I feel guilty that I skipped out on bridge Friday night. (Internal negative reinforcement) I worked hard in school because I wanted A's because my parents and teachers made a fuss over me. (External positive reinforcement.) (If I had done it because of a desire to do a great job, it would have been internal positive reinforcement.) I do the laundry because if I don't my clothes will be dirty and unwearable and society frowns on that. (External negative reinforcement.) Horses are no different. They will work either because it benefits them or because something bad might happen if they don't. Traditionally, horse training is negative reinforcement -- release of pressure and other force. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that one type of reinforcement (positive or negative) is innately more reliable than the other, but it simply isn't true. Every specific instance of reinforcement falls on a continuum between "so mild that barely any change was made" and "so powerful that change was instantaneous." Some instances of positive reinforcement are more powerful than some instances of negative reinforcement and vice versa. There are pros and cons to each, which I'm not going to get into. The best of all possible worlds, in my opinion, is a horse or dog or person who does what you ask out of internal positive reinforcement. Second best is external positive reinforcement. I don't take a lot of pride in people or animals working because I've somehow inspired fear or shown them that I can make life miserable for them if they don't. That doesn't mean that I think negative reinforcement is evil -- but it does mean that I would seek to use the most mild instance I could, and then I would use, in addition to release, positive reinforcement to cement the lesson. Melissa Alexander
|