Day TWO-21 Day Positive Training Kickstart Challenge

There are basically two types of training. One suppresses behavior as the learner attempts to do just the bare minimum to avoid something aversive (like punishment or corrections).

The other type is when the learner attempts to go to great lengths to try new & exciting things in order to earn reinforcers.

This video provides a good example of Positive Reinforcement Training vs. training using punishment.

There are four problems with punishment based training. One, aggression. Because punishers are not pleasant, there often can be aggression towards the punisher. Two, apathy. The animal becomes apathetic-lacking interest, emotion, concern, or feeling about learning. Three, escape/avoidance. Here, the learner attempts to escape or avoid the punishment & often the person meting out the punishment. Finally, generalized fear. In this case, the animal comes to fear things that they may associate with the situation or behavior or person during which the punishment occurs.

Examples of punishment based training techniques include choke chains, prong collars, shock collars, hitting, kicking, & any coercive or correction based methods.

All of these outcomes can be avoided by utilizing a positive reinforcement based training method. Examples include clicker training, rewards based teaching, or TAG (Teaching with Acoustical Guidance) teach.