Operant Conditioning
At Elite Dog Training we do not use negative reinforcement or positive punishment.
Operant conditioning is divided into four basic quadrants and an additional procedure:
•positive reinforcement
•negative reinforcement
•positive punishment
•negative punishment
•extinction
In this context, positive and negative doesn’t mean “good” and “bad”, as the majority of people believe.
• Positive (+): means that we are adding something to the equation
• Negative (-): means that we are removing something from the equation
• Reinforcement: means that a certain behaviour will more likely occur in the future
• Punishment: means that a certain behaviour is less likely to occur in the future
• Extinction: means that a particular behaviour is no longer reinforced in any way, therefore it extinguishes
Examples of the 4 quadrants...
-Positive reinforcement: you ask your dog to sit…your dog sits…you give him a treat. It is positive because you are adding something to the equation (a treat), your dog likes that therefore he will offer that behaviour again in the future (reinforcement).
-Negative reinforcement: you command your dog to sit and apply leash pressure upwards, your dog sits, and you remove the pressure. Negative –you are removing something (leash pressure), reinforcement –dog learns that by performing the sit position he can turn off the pressure therefore he will offer the sitting behaviour more often.
-Positive punishment: you tell your dog to sit, he disobeys and you apply a leash correction. Positive-you are adding something (leash correction), punishment- next time it is less likely that your dog will disobey.
-Negative punishment: you command your dog to sit, he doesn’t, and therefore you withhold a reward. Negative- you are taking away the reward from the equation, punishment- it is less likely that disobedience will occur in the future.
-Extinction: Extinction as a training method has become more and more popular thanks mostly to groups of clicker training dog trainers who are willing to learn and try new things. It is a powerful tool in your dog training box (as well as a part of operant conditioning).
Out of the four quadrants that make up Operant conditioning, only one is rewarding the other three all fall under the “correction” umbrella. This applies in 90% of dog training and a dog’s life. It is important to know that you can’t avoid dog training corrections they are a normal part of learning. The question is what type of corrections will you end up using, and what are dog training corrections?
•positive reinforcement
•negative reinforcement
•positive punishment
•negative punishment
•extinction
In this context, positive and negative doesn’t mean “good” and “bad”, as the majority of people believe.
• Positive (+): means that we are adding something to the equation
• Negative (-): means that we are removing something from the equation
• Reinforcement: means that a certain behaviour will more likely occur in the future
• Punishment: means that a certain behaviour is less likely to occur in the future
• Extinction: means that a particular behaviour is no longer reinforced in any way, therefore it extinguishes
Examples of the 4 quadrants...
-Positive reinforcement: you ask your dog to sit…your dog sits…you give him a treat. It is positive because you are adding something to the equation (a treat), your dog likes that therefore he will offer that behaviour again in the future (reinforcement).
-Negative reinforcement: you command your dog to sit and apply leash pressure upwards, your dog sits, and you remove the pressure. Negative –you are removing something (leash pressure), reinforcement –dog learns that by performing the sit position he can turn off the pressure therefore he will offer the sitting behaviour more often.
-Positive punishment: you tell your dog to sit, he disobeys and you apply a leash correction. Positive-you are adding something (leash correction), punishment- next time it is less likely that your dog will disobey.
-Negative punishment: you command your dog to sit, he doesn’t, and therefore you withhold a reward. Negative- you are taking away the reward from the equation, punishment- it is less likely that disobedience will occur in the future.
-Extinction: Extinction as a training method has become more and more popular thanks mostly to groups of clicker training dog trainers who are willing to learn and try new things. It is a powerful tool in your dog training box (as well as a part of operant conditioning).
Out of the four quadrants that make up Operant conditioning, only one is rewarding the other three all fall under the “correction” umbrella. This applies in 90% of dog training and a dog’s life. It is important to know that you can’t avoid dog training corrections they are a normal part of learning. The question is what type of corrections will you end up using, and what are dog training corrections?