Renee
04-16-2005, 10:32 PM
Hey everyone-
Sorry it took so long to post. I've been diligently working on my taxes the last few days. Everytime April 15th comes around, I always curse the fact that I majored in science and not business....but then I usually come to my senses once I've got them done and mailed. Next year I'm seriously going to have someone else do them because I can not, for the life of me, figure out what the purpose of a WI - Schedule I is and why it's supposed to be important to my life (as far as the IRS is concerned). That and I'll never sell stocks again because the money is simply not worth having to complete a Schedule D - YUCK!
Now, on to more important topics - The use of No Reward Marks and Positive Directives. While I think it is very important to explain what a Reward Mark (along with clicker training) is in the context of using a No Reward Mark - I'll try to leave the majority of that for Mario to explain (Good luck on your defense Mario).
Animals learn by making associations. We can break down learning in a very simple manner - Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence. Antecedent is what happens happens immediately before the behavior, then we get the behavior itself and the consequence is what immediately happens after the behavior. For example, I cue my dog to sit (antecedent), my dog sits (behavior), and I immediately give my dog a treat (consequence). RM's and NRM's help us communicate with our dog what we want them to do or not do - much like playing a game of hot and cold.
We can teach our dogs what a Reward Mark is by pairing it with food (a primary reinforcer). A primary reinforcer can be defined as something that is required for survival - food, water, air, reproduction (food is the obvious choice here) - I'll stop here with the RM so Mario can explain it. In addition to the RM, we use a No Reward Mark to communicate to our dogs. Technically a no reward mark is a conditioned adversive, but in reality we are telling our dogs "The behavior you are offering right now is not what I want and you will not get a tasty piece of ham!". No Reward Marks should be spoken in a neutral tone - no harsh tones or shouting are needed. Instead of using the word "no", maybe consider using "wrong", "too bad", "try agin" or "sorry" etc (I use "ah"). No, for humans, is an emotionally loaded word and is often hard to deliver neutrally. The way that I taught my dog a NRM is by using it in conjunction with a Reward Mark. If Pepper offered me a behavior I wasn't looking for, I'd say "ah"(NRM), when she offered me what I wanted I would say "good" (RM) and give her a treat.
Postive directives will usually suffice over a sternly shouted "NO" (which many dogs are either scared of or habituate to constantly being told no). Teach your dogs things like drop it, leave it, off, come, sit, down, stay etc. This way, you can tell your dog exactly what behavior you want instead of constantly telling your dog what not to do.
I'm going to have to cut this short, my husband just got home. We are going to head to the basement to play a few rounds of ping pong. My dog loves to join in and it makes her very, very tired - its wonderful! I'll add more tomorrow.
Later,
Sorry it took so long to post. I've been diligently working on my taxes the last few days. Everytime April 15th comes around, I always curse the fact that I majored in science and not business....but then I usually come to my senses once I've got them done and mailed. Next year I'm seriously going to have someone else do them because I can not, for the life of me, figure out what the purpose of a WI - Schedule I is and why it's supposed to be important to my life (as far as the IRS is concerned). That and I'll never sell stocks again because the money is simply not worth having to complete a Schedule D - YUCK!
Now, on to more important topics - The use of No Reward Marks and Positive Directives. While I think it is very important to explain what a Reward Mark (along with clicker training) is in the context of using a No Reward Mark - I'll try to leave the majority of that for Mario to explain (Good luck on your defense Mario).
Animals learn by making associations. We can break down learning in a very simple manner - Antecedent, Behavior, Consequence. Antecedent is what happens happens immediately before the behavior, then we get the behavior itself and the consequence is what immediately happens after the behavior. For example, I cue my dog to sit (antecedent), my dog sits (behavior), and I immediately give my dog a treat (consequence). RM's and NRM's help us communicate with our dog what we want them to do or not do - much like playing a game of hot and cold.
We can teach our dogs what a Reward Mark is by pairing it with food (a primary reinforcer). A primary reinforcer can be defined as something that is required for survival - food, water, air, reproduction (food is the obvious choice here) - I'll stop here with the RM so Mario can explain it. In addition to the RM, we use a No Reward Mark to communicate to our dogs. Technically a no reward mark is a conditioned adversive, but in reality we are telling our dogs "The behavior you are offering right now is not what I want and you will not get a tasty piece of ham!". No Reward Marks should be spoken in a neutral tone - no harsh tones or shouting are needed. Instead of using the word "no", maybe consider using "wrong", "too bad", "try agin" or "sorry" etc (I use "ah"). No, for humans, is an emotionally loaded word and is often hard to deliver neutrally. The way that I taught my dog a NRM is by using it in conjunction with a Reward Mark. If Pepper offered me a behavior I wasn't looking for, I'd say "ah"(NRM), when she offered me what I wanted I would say "good" (RM) and give her a treat.
Postive directives will usually suffice over a sternly shouted "NO" (which many dogs are either scared of or habituate to constantly being told no). Teach your dogs things like drop it, leave it, off, come, sit, down, stay etc. This way, you can tell your dog exactly what behavior you want instead of constantly telling your dog what not to do.
I'm going to have to cut this short, my husband just got home. We are going to head to the basement to play a few rounds of ping pong. My dog loves to join in and it makes her very, very tired - its wonderful! I'll add more tomorrow.
Later,