01/03/2020
What in the heck is operant conditioning and how does it pertain to my interactions with my horse? You may have heard me talk about it a bit and today I want to go more in-depth so you can really understand what it is.
Operant conditioning is a method of learning though either reinforcing a behavior or punishing it. You’ll hear a lot of people say that every interaction with your horse you are training them. Do you understand how those interactions are making a difference though? I’ll walk you through the four quadrants so you can be better aware of how to achieve the response you are after with your horse in this article.
The four quadrants are; positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, negative punishment. When speaking in training terms it’s important to note that “positive” doesn’t necessarily mean a good thing. It simply means you are adding something to the interaction. “Negative” means you are taking something away. Reinforcement increases the frequency of a behavior, punishment decreases it.
Let’s go over each quadrant with an example of each.
Positive reinforcement:
Clicker training is a great example of this. Your horse took a step forward into the trailer. You click and treat to reward that behavior. Your horse learns that doing a behavior results in a treat he likes, building confidence to do it again.
Negative reinforcement:
Have you heard horses learn from the release of pressure? That’s what this is. To ask your horse to move forward you squeeze with your calf. With your horse walks off, you release that pressure. Your horse learns that pressure will go away if he does the requested behavior.
Positive punishment:
A correction, this can be verbal or physical. A minor example would be saying “NO!” To a pawing horse to deter the behavior. A bigger example would be that while trying to lift a back hoof the horse kicks at you. In response you apply pressure and hustle the horses feet around. In both examples the horse gets a correction that is you adding pressure in response to something the horse did to lessen the behavior.
Negative punishment:
A correction where something is removed. Pawing during in anticipation of getting fed is a good example here. Instead of feeding a horse that’s throwing a fit, you instead walk away with the grain and leave. Here you’ve removed the opportunity for grain of the horse isn’t calm. Your horse learns that this behavior doesn’t get what they want.
I use all quadrants with I’m working with an animal. Some quadrants may be extremely minimally but they are there in my tool box in case I need them.
It’s also possible to use different quadrants together to get a behavior. My trailer loading example comes to mind here. While it’s possible to trailer load using only negative reinforcement or positive reinforcement, I like to pair them together. If a horse has a previous bad experience -r alone may not be the best motivator. Using target training to use only +r isn’t practical for the average owner. When I use both, I find it builds the horses confidence while also being practical.
I’ll stand in the trailer and apply soft pressure on the lead, which applies pressure on the halter. When the horse steps forward, I will release pressure, -r, AND click +r to let the horse know the treat is coming for that behavior. Using both together is a huge, clear signal to the horse that the behavior it just did was the answer.
It’s also very important to think from your animals perspective. What you may think is reinforcement may be punishment and vice versa.
If you’re working with an extremely skittish horse, you may be tempted to pet them more in an attempt to calm them, +r. However the horse may interpret it as +p instead because they are uncomfortable with you. A reinforcement could instead be you stepping back away from the horse -r, or you giving the horse a treat, +r.
I hope this article has been insightful.m
