Someone recently started a discussion on one of the horse clicker training yahoo groups about “clicker training” versus “training with a clicker.” Since I just posted an article about “What is clicker training?” I thought this discussion of “who is a clicker trainer?” was quite timely!
So, what’s the difference?
Some clicker trainers claim that other trainers aren’t actually “clicker training” they are just using a clicker in their training. The argument often goes that if you are using any kind of luring, pressure, negative reinforcement, punishment, etc. (including leashes for dogs and bridles or halters for horses), that you aren’t actually a “real” clicker trainer, you’re just merely training with a clicker.
To me, this is a pretty extreme view and a pretty narrow definition of clicker training. Also, I think quibbling over words in this way ultimately creates divisions between trainers. Positive trainers are still so few in number that we shouldn’t be dividing ourselves into camps based on who is “really” clicker training.
Many horse people (and dog people) start off clicker training by tacking it onto their old training methods or using it for just a few behaviors or tricks before they come to realize the power of positive reinforcement training. I was one of those and I know many other trainers who were too. It will be a lot easier to continue to build a community of positive trainers and get people interested in improving their training skills if we support and praise them for using a clicker, rather than telling them that they aren’t actually clicker training, but just training with a clicker.
Horse clicker trainer Alexandra Kurland posted a lengthy and very thoughtful response to this question of clicker training vs. training with a clicker. I encourage you to read it here. She discusses the continuum between directed learning, guided learning, and self-directed learning. Pressure (negative reinforcement) and luring are tools can very useful in some training situation. Even though some trainers use these tools poorly, that shouldn’t mean that we have to completely exclude them from our training tool box. Throughout her post, Alexandra references the lecture Kay Laurence gave at this year’s Art and Science of Animal Training conference. If you’re interested in more information about that lecture, I posted notes from it on my blog earlier this year.
I agree. It’s much better to be inclusive–and positive–with people who are trying clicker training. Joy
Hear, hear! “You’re doing it wrong” usually won’t win new converts. 🙂
I gave up on the Yahoo clicker group a long while back because of purists that insisted training a horse in my yard should only be like training a dolphin in a pool. Well… I don’t claim to be a pure clicker trainer. I don’t see some mild negative reinforcement being a bad thing with a horse and makes the communication a lot more clear to get on with things. It can be like a “hint”. Glad to hear that you wouldn’t throw me out of the clicker boat. I’m so far on the side of positive reinforcement compared to what others around use that you’d think I’d be a click and treat for that vs some insisting only pure shaping was allowed. Hey… I’m not whacking my horses with a stick, yanking their faces off with a rope halter or chasing them around a pen till they can’t breathe.
Have added you to my blogroll and will check back now more often.
Meg
Hi Meg,
Thanks for the comment! (and for adding me to your blog roll.)
I agree with you completely– I use mild -R in some situations too. I get frustrated with people who say -R is always bad and +R is always good. I try to look at how the method/technique is being used and how the animal responds. I’ve seen some trainers who can use -R very gently and carefully and have also (unfortunately) seen animals become very frustrated by a trainer’s poor use of +R.
I think, though, that at least some of the training community is opening up more to exploring how we can use -R (as well as other techniques that have been shunned, such as luring) in a way that is compatible with positive training. The past several years at Karen Pryor’s ClickerExpo conference, both Alexandra Kurland and Michelle Pouliot have talked about negative reinforcement in their lectures.
cheers,
Mary