Karen Pryor Clickertraining - Training Theory

The Ethology of Clicker Training

Karen Pryor — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 00:00:00 -0600

I used to think of myself as standing perpetually on a bridge, with a foot in each camp. I used to expend a lot of time trying to talk psychologists into understanding or at least coming to watch what we were learning about the animals with their science. No luck. No luck in the other direction, either: the behavioral biologists were not much interested in training or reinforcement.

The Neurophysiology of Clicker Training

Karen Pryor — Sun, 01 May 2005 00:00:00 -0500

Barbara and I hypothesize that the clicker is a conditioned "joy" stimulus that is acquired and recognized through those same primitive pathways, which would help explain why it is so very different from, say, a human word, in its effect. If this is true, another contributing factor to the extraordinary rapidity with which the clicker and clicked behavior can be acquired might be that the click is processed by the CNS much faster than any word can be.

Clicking for Cancer

Miranda Hersey Helin — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0600

The olfactory power of dogs has made headlines again this month, with new research supporting our canine friends' ability to "sniff out" the presence of cancer. While these findings continue to astonish many, one aspect won't surprise fans of operant conditioning: the dogs in this study were clicker trained.

Ben: An Aggressive Dog Case Study

Emma Parsons — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 -0600

Editors' note: Award-winning paper!

What I am going to present to you is my own case study about my golden retriever, Benjamin. It was through Ben that I met Karen Pryor and, thus, found some of the most effective ways to deal with aggression and fear-based behavior in dogs.

"NRMs" No Reward Markers

Melissa Alexander — Tue, 01 Jul 2003 00:00:00 -0500

Humans are notoriously verbal creatures. We love to talk, and we do so automatically, even when the person we're talking to doesn't speak our language, can't hear what we're saying, or even when the "person" isn't a person at all.

Amygdala: the Neurophysiology of Clicker Training

Karen Pryor — Wed, 01 Aug 2001 00:00:00 -0500

About a year ago I gave a talk to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers about advances in clicker training, in which I discussed the possible relationship between clicking and the amygdala, a structure in the limbic system or oldest part of the brain. Many people have emailed me to find out more, so I thought I would give you a recap and an update.

History of Clicker Training II

Karen Pryor — Thu, 01 May 1997 00:00:00 -0500

Yes, it is charming; but it is also rather sad. We have been training animals for thousands of years, and we almost never ask them to DO this! To bring their own abilities to the table. To think. If you'll excuse the expression. ((laughter)).

History of Clicker Training I

Karen Pryor — Thu, 01 May 1997 00:00:00 -0500

Behavior analysis is the science that underlies the technology of reinforcement training. Applications of behavior analysis include performance management, in industry and business; precision teaching, in schools; behavior modification, in clinical practice; and clicker training. The annual meeting draws some 2000 psychologists, from around the world. The speech reproduced here was given as part of the opening ceremonies. Karen Pryor's address at the Animal Behavior Society convention in Chicago, May 1997

Podcast: Are You Clicker Training, or Training with a Clicker?

Kathy Sdao — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Kathy Sdao is a top trainer and ClickerExpo faculty member. She began teaching people how to clicker train their dogs in 1996. “At that time, most pet owners had never heard of clicker training and few class instructors took it seriously. Mine was the only advertisement in the local Yellow Pages that mentioned the word ‘clicker.’ I had to persuade students to even try this novel gadget. A decade later, clickers are now common in dog training classes. But, I suggest, clicker training still is not. I do believe 'clicker training' is an unfortunate term for what we do.” Why? Listen to Kathy’s podcast and find out. Read the original article here.

Click and Play: Using Play as a Reinforcer

Angelica Steinker — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Dogs smile. Just like people, dogs pull the corners of their mouths up high toward their eyes, partially open their mouths, and smile. In 1872, Darwin wrote of the universality of facial expressions in The Expressions of Emotions in Man and Animals. Roughly 130 years later, Dr. Patricia McConnell authored For the Love of a Dog in which she compared human and dog facial expressions using the methods developed by Paul Ekman, the world's leading scientist on the topic. The truth is out: dogs smile, and, of course, experience emotions.

How to Motivate Yourself to Train or Exercise Your Dog—Or Do Practically Anything Else!

Aidan Bindoff — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Psst! Do you want to know the secret to getting things done?

Do you feel guilty about not walking your dog every day? Or not training as often as you should, or even not training when you really need to?

Is Dog Training Worth It? Click and Laugh

Virginia Broitman — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

There's so much more, however, that a dog can learn. You may wonder if it's worth your time, energy, and money to continue your dog's education. We'll explore and answer this question using cost/benefit analysis.

Are You a Leader, or Just a Treat Dispenser?

Aidan Bindoff — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Have you ever felt that you really have no leadership role in your relationship with your dog because your dog is just performing for food? You are not alone.

The Shape of Shaping: Some Historical Notes

Karen Pryor — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Shaping is a concept that many pet owners find hard to grasp. We're used to making animals do things by leading them or pushing them into the behavior we want—and it is hard to believe that there is another way. Common sense tells us that there is no possible way to get an animal to do something it has never done before, doing nothing yourself but reinforcing spontaneous movements.

Are You Clicker Training, or Training with a Clicker?

Kathy Sdao — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0500

I began teaching people how to clicker train their dogs in 1996. At that time, most pet owners had never heard of clicker training and few class instructors took it seriously. Mine was the only advertisement in the local Yellow Pages that mentioned the word "clicker." I had to persuade students to even try this novel gadget.

A decade later, clickers are now common in dog training classes. But, I suggest, clicker training still is not.

Clicker Classic: Can Reinforcers Be Too Powerful?

Karen Pryor — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Eddy was hesitating, as I see it, over the possibility that using these very powerful reinforcers could allow you to develop animals that would work long past the humane level. He mentioned pigeons on long schedules that actually crack their beaks, pecking. I don't see that as manipulation or oppression, but as cooperation and delivery beyond the call of duty in a pinch; on a daily basis, I wouldn't ask for that.

Science Speaks Volumes

Karen Pryor — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 00:00:00 -0500

Five graduate students from the University of North Texas (UNT) presented their research last May at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis in Atlanta. Over 2,000 behavior analysts from all over the world attend this meeting. The students prepared their work under the auspices of their professor, JesÃºs Rosales-Ruiz of the UNT department of behavior analysis, who is also a popular member of the ClickerExpo faculty.

Training a Fish: Goldfish-Click

Ogden Lindsley — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:22:51 -0500

Note: Ogden Lindsley was one of B.F. Skinners' first graduate students, a past president of the Association for Behavior analysis, and one of the first behavior analysts to grasp the power of shaping with a conditioned reinforcer. As a professor at the University of Kansas, he required his own students to shape behavior; many of them used goldfish. The instructions here for clicker training a goldfish are easy to follow and make a good science project. Karen Pryor

Fading the Click?

Karen Pryor — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600

When do I fade the click? How do I fade the click? We hear those questions all the time. The smart-aleck answer is "Never." Because we don't "fade" the click. Fading means doing something smaller and smaller until a tiny version of the original stimulus will serve, or until the learner no longer needs outside help to do the behavior. We don't do that with a click; either you clicked, or you didn't. Period. The term "fading" applies to prompts and cues; not to the marker signal.

Extinction and Intermittent Reinforcement

Wendy Williams — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 00:00:00 -0600

Intermittent reinforcement is an interesting procedure. In many ways, it is hard to distinguish between "no-food trials in an intermittent reinforcement schedule" and "extinction". In both cases, no food is delivered following the target response. More importantly, the removal or prevention of a reinforcer contingent on a particular response (response cost or neg. punishment) adds another twist to the question. Here is how I would address the question: