Anne's Website (Gaited Horses and Mules)
Clicker training refers to a new method of teaching behavior using a "yes" signal or conditioned reinforcer, to tell the animal precisely when it has done something right.
What is Clicker Training?
Simply put it is that aspect of operatant conditioning that uses positive
reinforcement combined with the use of a conditioned reinforcer.
Operant conditioning refers to an aspect of behavioral science in which the
animal is taught to make active behavioral choices based on what is
encouraged or discouraged. The part about the animal playing an active role
here is what is unique about this. It is not merely pavlovian conditioning.
Positive reinforcement is that which is ADDED (positive meaning + or add) to
the environment which tends to INCREASE the frequency of a behavior. IOW
one might ADD food or stroking to INCREASE the incidence of some behavior
you want.
There is also negative reinforcement which is the REMOVAL (negative meaning
take away, not bad!) of something from the environment which tend to
INCREASE the frequency of a behavior. With horses we use negative
reinforcement a lot because they respond so well to the removal of pressure.
The "clicker" serves as conditioned reinforcer. It is a signal to the
animal that they have made the right choice and as such a reinforcer (food
or other desirable thing) is coming. The purpose of the clicker is to
"mark" the desired behavior so that the animal knows exactly what to do to
get the reinforcer.
My horse is clicker trained and understands the word "good" to be a
conditioned reinforcer. I've used this training to help her cope with
painful or stressful situations as well as in our day to day training (on
the ground or under saddle).
The way one *starts* clicker training is with a simple behavior to introduce
the horse to the idea. Typically, one begins with targeting because it is
handy to teach the horse and very easy. First though you teach the horse
what the sound of the clicker means. Usually this is done with a favored
food because this gets the message across most quickly. Later a broader
range of reinforcers may be added for variety. A good clicker trainer can
read the horse and recognize what the horse is most motivated to work for.
This is done simply by clicking the clicker (once) then offering a teeny
tiny tidbit (say a nickel sized sliver of carrot). Click give a bit of
carrot, click give a bit of carrot. The smart horse
Once the horse understands that the click means reward (treat) is coming you
can move to phase 2. Connecting behavior choices to the click. May go
something like this. Use a good sized object like a ball or cone or a
plastic container lid. Present the object to the horse. Being curious
animals the horse is likely to sniff it. Click and give a treat (c/t).
Present the object again and c/t when the horse sniffs it. What you are
doing is telling the horse that touching the object with his nose will earn
a reward. Pretty soon the horse will begin to actively seek out the object
in order to get the treat.
The key to clicker training is the idea of shaping. You can begin with very
small hints of the desired behavior and shape them to what you really want.
For example, in the first targeting session once the horse understands that
treats are involved he will lose interest in sniffing the object and start
sniffing your pockets.
So you wait and watch. THIS is the part that requires the greatest skill.
At some point the horse may accidentally turn his head torward the object.
C/T. Wait some more. C/T ANYthing that even approaches the possibility
that the horse might touch the object, even if it is accidental. Turning
his head toward it, reaching without touching, then eventually touching. At
some point there will be the all important Light Bulb Moment
This process though generally only takes a few minutes, perhaps half an
hour. Now the horse knows the Training Game. Once he knows the game you
can begin to apply the clicker means That's Right to everything you do.
Here's an example of a way I used clicker training to help my horse cope
with a stressful situation. Once she had a bad case of thrush and I had to
pack the frog with medicated cotton balls using a hoof pick. OWIE she did
NOT like that. The vet was sure I wouldn't be able to get the stuff up
there.
More than treats are involved in the success here. One is the fact that she
is clicker savvy. IOW just the sound of the click (or in my case the "GOOD"
word said in a distinctive way) is calming because she KNOWS good things are
coming. Also, the idea of working on very small acheivable goals is central
to all good training. As in make haste slowly. But that in a nutshell is
what clicker training is about. Sharon Foley
>>If you know how to get the horses' trust, you do not need no gimmicks. I don't
know why we can't get back to basics. Let horses be horses-- they are not
people even thou some people think they are. I have to retrain too many that
have been given treats.<<
Because food is such a powerful motivator it is like a razor in the hands of
a child.
People whose horses require "retraining because food was used" do NOT
require retraining because of the food -- they require *TRAINING* because
they were not *TRAINED* in the first place. :-) Rule #1: Reward the
behavior you WANT. Mugging and biting is NOT WANTED therefore I would NEVER
reward it. Horses are a Very quick study. The mistake that people who end
up with a horse who has bad manners "because of food" made the fatal mistake
of rewarding that behavior. Maybe even just once. It was not the treats it
was the trainer.
I have studied, and use, the principles of "natural horsemanship" (back to
basics?) and have found that good trainers ALL do the same thing. They have
great timing and feel, they care for the horse, they have a sense of
awareness, they understand what the horse needs in order to make the step to
the next level of learning. The existance of treats or not is irrelevant.
What clicker training does for the HUMAN is provide them with a way to learn
a little bit more about these vital elements of training. Once learned they
discover they apply to everything. Then no matter what they do, or what
method they follow (or whether they use treats or not) they better
understand how and why it works.
Sharon
What is a Clicker Trainer?
This issue has come up before. A couple of months ago Bob and Marian
Bailey and I got together on the phone and hammered out a definition we
could live with, which I then passed by some of the autism folks and they
approved it too. I have submitted it to William Verplanck in hopes that he
will add it to the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies website glossary.
here it is (I may have a slightly different wording at the office, this is
from memory):
"Clicker training is that part of operant conditioning that utilizes
positive reinforcement and a conditioned reinforcer used as a marker
signal."
In other words, our definition specifically excludes punishment. When
you are punishing, you are not clicker training. You are punishing. You may
be negatively reinforcing operant behavior but the use of the aversive under
this definition says that that procedure is not clicker training.
So, punishers may be clicker users without being clicker trainers in
this definition. Or they might be clicker training some of the time and
conventional training some of the time...which will have an inhibitory
effect on the overall rate of offered behavior in the subject, as well, of
course, as the risk of fallout of various other unpredictable sorts, as we
all know.
Please feel free to post this anywhere you like. Morgan Spector's new
book, "Clicker Training for Obedience," is available at last, and he
addresses this question. (Call 1-800-47-CLICK for info.) Also I have
discussed it at great length in the new revised edition of DSTD which will
be out next summer.
Robert, keeping his end of the "deal" with Ariel, a 7 month old Percheron filly. She gets a treat.
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