Horse clicker trainer Alexandra Kurland often speaks of splitters and lumpers. These are funny words, but they refer to an often serious training problem! Most behaviors can be broken down into many smaller pieces and approximations. When we break our goal down into tiny chunks and build gradually to a target behavior, we’re being a […]
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Overcoming Fear and the Power of Cues
This post is part of a series of several posts on cues. I recently watched one of Alexandra Kurland’s DVDs, Overcoming Fear and the Power of Cues. It was a fascinating look at positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, desensitization, fear and cues. Learn more about the DVD or purchase it on Alexandra’s website. Horseflix subscribers can […]
What is Stimulus Control?
Well established cues are under what is called stimulus control. The stimulus (cue) increases the chance that the behavior will occur because the animal has been reinforced for performing the behavior in the presence of the cue. But what does it really mean for a behavior to be under good stimulus control? Properties of cues […]
ORCA: Great Minds Conference
ORCA, one of the organizations run by the behavior analysis department at the Univerisity of North Texas is sponsoring a conference on Friday on “The Art and Science of Animal Training: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?” I was able to sign up to go at the student rate, since I’m taking classes […]