Post by Admin on Aug 2, 2016 13:03:45 GMT -7
What is the Premack Principle?
Premack's principle, or the relativity theory of reinforcement, states that more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors. Premack's principle suggests that if a person wants to perform a given activity, the person will perform a less desirable activity to get at the more desirable activity; that is, activities may themselves be reinforcers. An individual will be more motivated to perform a particular activity if they know that they will be able to partake of a more desirable activity as a consequence. Stated objectively, if high-probability behaviors (more desirable behaviors) are made contingent upon lower-probability behaviors (less desirable behaviors), then the lower-probability behaviors are more likely to occur. Ever hear your parent say, "you can't go to the mall until you clean your room." Or, "You can have your dessert after you eat your vegetables." They were using the premack principle.
How can this be applied to horses?
Example: you have a horse that hates lunging. They'd rather stand still and doze off than go around you in circles. Using the Premack Principle, you'd send your horse off. Then you'd reward a good send, with standing still. When your horse sends off (even if it's just at the walk), you cue him to stop after a few steps and then let him doze off for a minute. Then you ask again. Soon, the horse will do the less probable behavior (lunging) in order to get to do the more probable behavior (standing still). Eventually, using this method, you'd be able to send the horse right off just by pointing. Then you can work up the duration of time that he's lunging.
How can you be so sure this "Premack Principle" works?
David Premack and his colleagues, and others, have conducted a number of experiments to test the effectiveness of the Premack principle in humans. One of the earliest studies was conducted with young children. Premack gave the children two response alternatives, eating candy or playing a pinball machine, and determined which of these behaviors was more probable for each child. Some of the children preferred one activity, some the other. In the second phase of the experiment, the children were tested with one of two procedures. In one procedure, eating was the reinforcing response, and playing pinball served as the instrumental response; that is, the children had to play pinball in order to eat candy. The results were consistent with the Premack principle: only the children who preferred eating candy over playing pinball showed a reinforcement effect. The roles of responses were reversed in the second test, with corresponding results. That is, only children who preferred playing pinball over eating candy showed a reinforcement effect. This study, among others, helps to confirm the Premack principle in showing that a high-probability activity can be an effective reinforcer for an activity that the subject is less likely to perform.(Domjan, 2010).
What about using treats?
This works well for horses who won't listen to high value rewards like hay cubes, alfalfa pellets, carrots, apples, or anything you've tried. I had a horse that would want to graze all the time. I would click and treat every time he lifted his head up. But no matter how many different treats I tried (peppermint, carrots, horse cookies, apples, watermelon, banana, celery, and even grain) he wouldn't listen. It was just more rewarding to have unlimited food (the grass) than have a higher value, limited food (one treat from my hand). The Premack Principle fixed his grazing issues while leading. Some horses don't respond to treats in every situation, and that calls for a different technique.
And what about pressure and release?
Horses are very strong animals. And with my horse (the same horse that wouldn't stop grazing while leading) I used pressure and release as well. He was too strong, and ended up dragging me across the dirt. Again, sometimes pressure and release doesn't work in every situation, and new techniques need to be tried.
Well, you're an asshole and need to stop judging me and my methods.
I'm NOT judging you or your methods. I use both treat training and pressure and release regularly in my training. It works better in some situations than others, and the Premack Principle works well in others. Different situations call for different techniques, a lot of the time.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack%27s_principle
Premack's principle, or the relativity theory of reinforcement, states that more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors. Premack's principle suggests that if a person wants to perform a given activity, the person will perform a less desirable activity to get at the more desirable activity; that is, activities may themselves be reinforcers. An individual will be more motivated to perform a particular activity if they know that they will be able to partake of a more desirable activity as a consequence. Stated objectively, if high-probability behaviors (more desirable behaviors) are made contingent upon lower-probability behaviors (less desirable behaviors), then the lower-probability behaviors are more likely to occur. Ever hear your parent say, "you can't go to the mall until you clean your room." Or, "You can have your dessert after you eat your vegetables." They were using the premack principle.
How can this be applied to horses?
Example: you have a horse that hates lunging. They'd rather stand still and doze off than go around you in circles. Using the Premack Principle, you'd send your horse off. Then you'd reward a good send, with standing still. When your horse sends off (even if it's just at the walk), you cue him to stop after a few steps and then let him doze off for a minute. Then you ask again. Soon, the horse will do the less probable behavior (lunging) in order to get to do the more probable behavior (standing still). Eventually, using this method, you'd be able to send the horse right off just by pointing. Then you can work up the duration of time that he's lunging.
How can you be so sure this "Premack Principle" works?
David Premack and his colleagues, and others, have conducted a number of experiments to test the effectiveness of the Premack principle in humans. One of the earliest studies was conducted with young children. Premack gave the children two response alternatives, eating candy or playing a pinball machine, and determined which of these behaviors was more probable for each child. Some of the children preferred one activity, some the other. In the second phase of the experiment, the children were tested with one of two procedures. In one procedure, eating was the reinforcing response, and playing pinball served as the instrumental response; that is, the children had to play pinball in order to eat candy. The results were consistent with the Premack principle: only the children who preferred eating candy over playing pinball showed a reinforcement effect. The roles of responses were reversed in the second test, with corresponding results. That is, only children who preferred playing pinball over eating candy showed a reinforcement effect. This study, among others, helps to confirm the Premack principle in showing that a high-probability activity can be an effective reinforcer for an activity that the subject is less likely to perform.(Domjan, 2010).
What about using treats?
This works well for horses who won't listen to high value rewards like hay cubes, alfalfa pellets, carrots, apples, or anything you've tried. I had a horse that would want to graze all the time. I would click and treat every time he lifted his head up. But no matter how many different treats I tried (peppermint, carrots, horse cookies, apples, watermelon, banana, celery, and even grain) he wouldn't listen. It was just more rewarding to have unlimited food (the grass) than have a higher value, limited food (one treat from my hand). The Premack Principle fixed his grazing issues while leading. Some horses don't respond to treats in every situation, and that calls for a different technique.
And what about pressure and release?
Horses are very strong animals. And with my horse (the same horse that wouldn't stop grazing while leading) I used pressure and release as well. He was too strong, and ended up dragging me across the dirt. Again, sometimes pressure and release doesn't work in every situation, and new techniques need to be tried.
Well, you're an asshole and need to stop judging me and my methods.
I'm NOT judging you or your methods. I use both treat training and pressure and release regularly in my training. It works better in some situations than others, and the Premack Principle works well in others. Different situations call for different techniques, a lot of the time.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premack%27s_principle