Reinforcement
Your dog decides what is reinforcing.
The key to motivating your dog is understanding their needs, desires, and values and then tailoring approaches that resonate with them.
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What is reinforcement
Reinforcement is something that your dog perceives as valuable. All behaviour reoccurs because it is reinforced in some way.
Primary Reinforcers—"Primary reinforcers are those with innate reinforcing qualities. They are not learned. Some examples are Water, food, sleep, shelter, sex, and touch. Pleasure is also a primary reinforcer. Organisms do not lose their drive for these things. "(Introduction to Psychology – Lindh)
Secondary reinforcers—"Secondary reinforcers, also called conditioned reinforcers, do not occur naturally and need to be learned. Money is an example of a secondary reinforcer. Money helps reinforce behaviours because it can be used to acquire primary reinforcers such as food, clothing, and shelter (among other things)". Very Well Mind. Your Conditioned Marker works as a secondary reinforcer when paired with multiple primary reinforcers. Organisms can lose the drive for secondary reinforcers if they no longer predict the primary ones. Charging the marker before a walk or training session is a great way to prevent this.
In the real world, multiple reinforcers often compete or work together. Understanding and using reinforcement effectively allows us to identify these reinforcers and sometimes even use them to build desirable behaviours or decrease undesirable ones.
Functional rewards
Functional rewards drive your dog's behaviour. Once you identify why your dog is doing something, you can teach it an alternative, more appropriate behaviour and reward it by fulfilling the function of the old undesirable behaviour.
Another term for 'Functional Rewards' is "Life Rewards". When a behaviour repeats itself, it's because it has been reinforced by a functional/life reward, which we may have no control over. If we don't like that behaviour, we can use the SAME functional/life reward to train a replacement behaviour. (Lili Chin)
It's always better to start training new behaviours in a controlled, low-stimulus environment. This allows you to build an understanding of the new behaviour first and sets you and your dog up for success.
Classical & Operant conditioning
Classical and operant conditioning build upon the work of Edward Thorndike: The Law Of Effect
Classical Conditioning by Ivan Pavlov is a theory on automatic or unconscious learning in which the response from an uncontrolled stimulus, such as food, is paired with a neutral stimulus, such as the crinkle of a plastic packet. Over time, the neutral stimulus creates the same conditioned emotional response (CER), and whenever the dog hears a plastic packet, it thinks there is food and gets excited.
Notes:
- For this to work, the marker must appear before the reward, not after or during its delivery.
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Operant Conditioning by B.F. Skinner. This theory uses rewards and punishments to increase or decrease behaviour. Operant conditioning is sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning (very well mind)
Reinforcement in Operant ConditioningReinforcement is any event that strengthens or increases the behaviour it follows. There are two kinds of reinforcers. In both of these cases of reinforcement, the behaviour increases.
(+ R) Positive reinforcers are favourable events or outcomes that are presented after the behaviour. Positive reinforcement strengthens a response or behaviour by adding praise or a direct reward. (- R) Negative reinforcers involve the removal of unfavourable events or outcomes after the display of a behaviour. In these situations, a response is strengthened by removing something considered unpleasant. Punishment in Operant Conditioning Punishment is the presentation of an adverse event or outcome that decreases the behaviour it follows. There are two kinds of punishment. In both of these cases, the behaviour decreases.
(+ P) Positive punishment, sometimes called punishment by application, presents an unfavourable event or outcome to weaken the response it follows. (- P) Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when a favourable event or outcome is removed after a behaviour occurs.
(+ R) Positive reinforcers are favourable events or outcomes that are presented after the behaviour. Positive reinforcement strengthens a response or behaviour by adding praise or a direct reward. (- R) Negative reinforcers involve the removal of unfavourable events or outcomes after the display of a behaviour. In these situations, a response is strengthened by removing something considered unpleasant. Punishment in Operant Conditioning Punishment is the presentation of an adverse event or outcome that decreases the behaviour it follows. There are two kinds of punishment. In both of these cases, the behaviour decreases.
(+ P) Positive punishment, sometimes called punishment by application, presents an unfavourable event or outcome to weaken the response it follows. (- P) Negative punishment, also known as punishment by removal, occurs when a favourable event or outcome is removed after a behaviour occurs.
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