Theory: Operant And Classical Conditioning

The minus sign in the operant conditioning quadrant represents the removal or absence of something after the dog performs a certain behavior. It indicates that something stops happening, is removed, or fails to happen as a consequence of the behavior. For example, if the dog barks, you leave, or if the dog sits, you stop hanging him by his collar. This type of consequence is considered negative reinforcement, as it involves the removal of an aversive stimulus to increase the likelihood of the behavior being repeated.

'adding' because '+'
'more' because 'R'

b. Exposing him at a distance that he is scared, and waiting for the fear to abait, is called 'flooding'. Flooding carries the risk that the dog's fear actually gets much worse and turns into a phobia. 

c. Avoiding all exposures to helmets and the likes will not result in a worsening of the problem, nor in any sort of improvement. 

Note: This falls under this particular quiz (Classical and operant conditioning) as it concerns a problematic emotional association (thus classical conditioning).

A high-rep (high-repetition) practice session refers to a short-burst practice session where you repeatedly practice a behavior, aiming to maximize the number of successful moments or "yes" moments. This type of practice session focuses on intensive repetition in a condensed period of time to reinforce and improve the desired behavior.

R = will result in him doing the 'puppy please' more often + = we add something (treat)

P stands for 'Punishment' but it has a slightly different meaning in operant conditioning science than in everyday use. 

In operant conditioning, 'P' is answer B. Any consequence of the dog's behaviour that result in the dog performing the behaviour less often. 

When the dog does something you want to decrease (e.g. bark), you could add something (e.g. a kick) or remove something (e.g. you turn your back to the dog - assuming he likes you).

Both are technically punishments because both result in the dog performing the behaviour less often.

The 'R' in 'Reinforcement' in operant conditioning refers to any consequence that increases the future frequency or likelihood of a dog's behavior. This can include rewarding the dog for good behavior, such as praising or giving treats. The purpose of reinforcement is to strengthen the desired behavior and encourage its repetition in the future.

An intermittent ratio of reinforcement means the behaviour pays off once in a while. This is the worst kind of ratio to extinguish a habit, as it makes the habit more resistant. The jumper keeps thinking "Just one more time" 

An intermittent ratio of reinforcement is powerful stuff. It is behind gambling addictions.

Shaping refers to the process of rewarding the dog for gradually improving their behavior and getting closer to the desired behavior. This involves setting criteria for what is considered acceptable behavior and rewarding the dog each time they meet those criteria. Over time, the criteria are raised, and the dog is rewarded for getting even closer to the desired behavior. This method helps the dog understand what is expected of them and encourages them to learn and improve their behavior through positive reinforcement.

P+ stands for 'positive punishment'.



+ means something starts as a result of the dog's behaviour. A kick is P+, for example.

Technically, it is impossible to reward fear. Fear is not a behaviour, thus does not fall under operant conditioning. Thus cannot be rewarded/punished. 

n

nFear, as a classical response, can be strengthened/weakened, 

If you reassure the dog (e.g. kind words, or even treats), he will experience less fear at that moment. This can help decrease the fearful meaning of the situation for the dog (desensitisation). 

It IS, however, possible to reward fearful behaviour: you could accidentally teach the dog to be a drama queen. In this scenario, the dog is not so much FEELING more fearful but ACTING more fearful. This is relatively easy to fix, a lot more than a deep-seated fear. So it's a non-issue in most cases.

It IS, however, possible that your reassurance strengthens his fear: if you yourself, through over-empathising with the dog, end up acting stressy and nervous whilst reassuring the dog.

'Add' because '+' 'Less often' because 'P'

'remove' because '-' 'less' because 'P'



A typical example of P- is withdrawing the opportunity to chase a ball if the dog demand-barks for you to toss the ball. He will bark less often (P) as a result of you removing (-) the ball. 

As a technical word in operant conditioning, 'P', or 'punishment' has a different meaning than it does in everyday life.

P, as a technical word, means something that decreases the chance that the dog performs the behaviour again.

We use a lot of Punishment at OhMyDog, strictly speaking, but then negative punishment. e.g. turning our back on the dog when he demand-barks. It's a punishment as it aims at decreasing a specific dog behaviour. 

Punishment = leads to the dog performing that behaviour less often.
Minus = you stopped doing something

The '+' is nothing to do with whether the dog experiences the consequence of its behaviour as positive. It is about adding (as opposed to removing) something after he behaved in a certain way. A kiss and a kick are both '+' consequences. A consequence starts/is added (+) as a result of the dog's a behaviour. e.g. He barks -> You kick him; or He sits -> You give him a treat.

An extinction burst often happens when teaching a dog not to jump up. They jump up? We withdraw attention. At first, the dog will jump higher, and might even add barking and scratching to his repertoire. It is of the highest importance not to crack and give attention during an extinction burst, as it might mean the unwanted behaviour now starts at a more intense level.

Picture this scenario: the owner asks the dog to sit and, AT THE SAME TIME, bends over to lure the dog into position.

This way, the dog doesn't get a chance to process the command 'sit'. He just knows the primate's lips are moving, ignores that, and waits for the primate's body language information instead.

We want to give dogs a chance to know that our voice, and what we say, may be relevant.

In this example, the owner's body language is overshadowing the verbal command for the dog. The owner should have waited one second before helping the dog with a hand gesture/before giving the treat. 

It is classical. It is nothing to do with what the dog does, nothing to do with the dog learning the consequence of his/her behaviour.

It's just something in the dog's world which may, for a while, have no particular meaning to the dog (e.g. you grabbing the leash) acquiring a new meaning (i.e. a walk). 

It has directly to do with what the dog does. It is the dog learning the consequences of his behaviour.



If you want to split hair, you could argue that every type of operant conditioning has an element of classical conditioning to it, but let's not. 

'Remove' because '-' 'More' because 'R'



In horse riding, a typical example is slowing a horse down. You want him to slow down on command, so you say the command, and pull on the reins until he slows down. 



Although, you could argue that this is P+, because you are punishing going too fast by adding reign tension (is your head spinning yet?)

C. is the correct answer because a dog being scared/distracted in a particular environment has nothing to do with overshadowing. Overshadowing is the process by which learning is impeded because the new word (e.g. 'sit') is overshadowed by something more accessible to the dog (e.g. owner helps with gestures). So the dog learns to ignore verbal commands and go by body language alone.

It has to do with what the dog does, how he o.p.e.r.a.t.e.s. He learns the consequences of his behaviour (jumping) = attention. 

Punishment = your action leads to the dog performing that behaviour less often.
Minus = you removed something (yourself)

The clicker word is a (secondary) reward. We sometimes call these "reward markers". It tells the dog the (primary) reward (the food) is coming.

It is NOT a command and should NOT be used as one. Students are often tempted to use it as a recall or attention command (because a dog hearing the clicker word will orient to his owner and come to get the food), but using it as such is technically incorrect and may well ruin the effect of the clicker sound.

'P' because we are reducing the behaviour, 'Minus' because we are removing something that was there (our attention)

It is classical. It is nothing to do with what the dog does. It's not to do with the consequence of the dog's behaviour (as operant conditioning would be).

Sure we tend to click for desirable behaviour, but you could, in principle, decide to click no matter what the dog does. The dog would still expect a treat if he heard the sound, regardless of what he was doing previous to hearing the sound. 

It has to do with what the dog does. The dog is learning the consequences of his behaviour.

It is not about the dog learning the consequences of his/her behaviour. That would have been operant. 

It is about the dog associating/giving a meaning to something in his/her world. In this case, an emotional meaning (e.g. excitement, fear, anger, etc.)

As a technical term in operant conditioning, 'R' (reinforcement) has nothing to do with the consequence being humane.

'R' strictly means any consequence that will increase the likelihood/frequency of the specific behaviour happening again. 

R-, for example, could be zap the dog with current from an e-collar constantly, until he turns in our direction. 

The methods used by OhMyDog can be classified as R+ (Positive Reinforcement/Positieve Bekrachtiging) and P- (Negative Punishment/Negatieve Straf). This means that they use positive reinforcement to reward desired behaviors and negative punishment to remove or withhold something the dog finds rewarding in response to unwanted behaviors.

Operant: It has to do with what the dog does, how he o.p.e.r.a.t.e.s. (he sits)
Classical: It also has to do with the dog associating something ('yes' word) with something else (food). Regardless of his actions, the clicker word predicts food. In fact, that is how we first teach the clicker word. We say it even if the dog did nothing worthy of rewarding. Just so the dog learns the association between the clicker word and the food.

Students should practice once every 2-3 days in order to get results. This frequency allows for regular practice without overwhelming the students or causing unnecessary stress. Consistency is important, but it is also important to give oneself time to rest and reflect between practice sessions. By practicing every 2-3 days, students can maintain a steady pace of improvement while also allowing themselves time to recharge and process what they have learned.

The ideal duration of a high-rep practice session focusing on one skill is a few seconds. This suggests that short bursts of intense practice can be more effective than longer sessions. It implies that the key is to focus on quality rather than quantity, ensuring that each repetition is done with full concentration and effort. Short practice sessions allow for better retention of information and prevent mental fatigue, ultimately leading to better skill development.

Because doing otherwise would result in a lot of overshadowing!