Learning and Behavior

This last week I spent a day on the road with some good buddies of mine from the barn. It was a fun road trip with some good conversations. And you know of course that when you get 4 horse ladies in one truck that training and trainers will eventually come up as a topic! It was a good conversation and it got me thinking about how and why I train the way I do. I have grown so much in the last 4 years as a trainer. But this post isn't about how I train...I want to break down the 4 Operant Conditioning Quadrants.

This will be a very simplified post to just get the basics out there. I believe if you are training an animal you should at the very least know and understand what method you are using and why it works or doesn't work.

The Four Quadrants

• Positive Punishment
• Positive Reinforcement
• Negative Punishment
• Negative Reinforcement

I will list a few examples of each. It is important to remember positive and negative are not referring to good or bad, but as adding and subtracting. You are adding or taking away something to ether increase or decrease a behavior. It is also important to note, that before using any of these methods you need to know what behavior you are not wanting and what behavior you want in place of it.

I will start with my favorite methods:

• Positive Reinforcement- Here you are adding something to make a behavior more rewarding and increasing the likely-hood that the horse will repeat the behavior. Example: I reward Pixie with praise and treats when she stands still at the mounting block.

• Negative Punishment - Here you are taking away something good to decrease a behavior. Example: If Pixie doesn't stand still at the mounting block I ignore her taking way all praise and treats.  

My least two favorite methods are:

• Negative Reinforcement - Here you are taking away an unpleasant thing to increase a behavior. (This is the most used in horse training, often referred to as pressure and release). Example : If you want to stop your horse you pull on the reins creating pressure and pain in their mouth the pressure is released when they stop.  

• Positive Punishment- Here you are adding something unpleasant to decrease a behavior. Example: Your horse moves while you are trying to mount so correct them by pulling on the reins or yelling at them. 

I did list Negative Reinforcement as one of my least favorite methods, but I do use it. However I find that as the years go by I am using it less. My goal is to be the most humane trainer I can be and to always give my horses a choice when safe to do so :)