This is part 4 of a five part conversation with Dr Claire St Peter. Claire is a behavior analyst. She teachers At West Virginia University where she has recently taken on a new role. She is now Chair of the Department of Behavior Analysis. This week we are down in the weeds considering the definitions of words both trainers and behavior analysts use on a regular basis. We started in episode 248 by asking what is shaping? In this episode we ask what is behavior? The nuances form the...

Language matters. I know what I mean by the words I use. But do my meanings match your understanding of the same words? And what nuances are there in the definition that I may never have considered? I may be okay when I am speaking to someone in my own community who understand the terms I use in much the same way that I do, but what happens when we move outside of our community? What happens when animal trainers talk to behavior analysts? Do we understand one another? Or do we sow...

Last week we reached the milestone of our 250th episode. To celebrate that event we invited three of the regular attendees from the coaching sessions for my on-line clinics to join us for an afternoon’s conversation. We’re talking with Svenja Sawinksi and Sonya Bode, both from Germany and Lucy Butler. You may remember the podcasts we did with Lucy where we talked about using a constructional training approach with her high school students. Lucy got our conversation going with a question...

We’ve reached an astounding milestone, our 250th episode. We celebrated this event by inviting three of the regular attendees of the coaching sessions for my on-line clinics to join us in a panel discussion. You’ve met them before when we did our first panel discussion with the coaching session attendees. We’re talking with Svenja Sawinksi and Sonya Bode, both from Germany, and Lucy Butler. You may remember the podcasts we did with Lucy where we talked about using a constructional...

Episode 149 Dr Claire St Peter Pt 2 Requirements and Schedules of Reinforcement This is part 2 of a five part series with Dr. Claire St Peter. Claire is the chair of the department of Behavior Analysis at West Virginia University. And she is also a horse owner so I always enjoy our conversations. We’re able to go deep into the weeds of both behavior analysis and horse training. In this episode we begin by exploring the difference between requirements and schedules. When we ask a horse...

This is episode number 248. You would think after so many episodes we would know what shaping is. In this episode we’re going to see if that is indeed the case. Language matters and it can definitely trip us up. Does shaping mean the same thing to me as it does to you? In this conversation we are joined by Dr Claire St Peter. Claire has been a frequent guest on this podcast. She is a behavior analysts who teaches at West Virginia University. Our recent conversation with Dr Joe Layng...

I have a fun announcement to make. I'll let you listen to the podcast to find out what it is.

Dominique and I took turns this week with the topics we wanted to discuss. Dominique began with a fun surprise. She wanted to talk about the body awareness explorations that are part of my teaching. Dominique has never liked these awareness explorations. They just didn’t resonate with her. So she started out as a “no, this isn’t for me.” In clinics she was always polite and went along with the session even though she wanted to be doing something else. In this episode she has shared how...

Dominique and I spent an afternoon catching up and going through topics she’s been collecting from my new book, Modern Horse Training, and the on-line clinics. In Part 1 the focus was on working both sides of your horse. In part two we shifted topics to talk about piaffe, managing energy, cues, and base behaviors. What we're looking for in this work is we want a deep, deep feeling of all is well within the horse. You can ask for added energy and then immediately go back to calm because the...

Dominique and I spent an afternoon catching up and going through topics she’s been collecting from my new book, Modern Horse Training, and the on-line clinics. In Part 1 the focus was on working both sides of your horse. We’re often told that we have to work both sides equally during a training session. As always, it is go to people for opinions and horses for answers. What answers have the horses given us? And what strategies can we use to help a horse become comfortable and well...

Periodically Dominique get together for a catch up conversation. Dominique has been going through my new book, Modern Horse Training, and my on-line clinics. From those resources she’s been collecting topics that are interesting to explore. But first we begin with a short follow up to the episodes we did with Joe Layng on reinforcement schedules. We talk about the role clean loops play in developing behavior. What is the difference between clean and fully developed? Then we move on...

This is the fourth installment of our conversation with Dr. Joe Layng about schedules of reinforcement. In this episode we begin with the distinction Joe is making between contingencies and dependencies, and a program versus a schedule. This takes us to this question: Given this distinction between shaping and maintaining, at what point does an exploration of schedules become relevant? As you stabilize behaviors, how much variability do you need to maintain? How does all of this relate...

This is the third installment of our conversation with Dr. Joe Layng about schedules of reinforcement. In this episode we’ll be talking more directly about shaping. Joe introduces some more terms into the discussion, including ratio strain. He makes distinctions between a program and a schedule, and between contingencies and dependencies. And he highlights the role that extinction plays in shaping.

This is part 2 of our conversation with Dr Joe Layng about schedules of reinforcement. Last week Joe got us started by describing the four basic types of schedules you are likely to encounter. Fixed Interval schedules and variable Interval schedules are both time based. Fix ratio and variable ratio schedules refer to the number of responses. In this episode Joe moves beyond the basics of schedules to show us how complex the application and interpretation of schedules can become. He...

We’re beginning a four part series on schedules of reinforcement with Dr Joe Layng. Dr. Layng is a behavior analyst with over fifty years of experience in the experimental and applied analysis of behavior. His most recent book is “Nonlinear Contingency Analysis: Going Beyond Cognition and Behavior in Clinical Practice. I could go on with a long list of Joe’s professional credentials, but instead I’ll say that Joe was one of the regular presenters at the Art and Science of Animal Training...

This is the second half of an afternoon conversation. Dominique has been collecting some topics to discuss from the coaching sessions that are part of my on-line clinics, from the new book, Modern Horse Training, and from conversations she’s seen on the internet. We cover four or five big topics so I have divided the conversation into two parts. In Part 1 we began with a discussion of tying. From there we looked at leading and the importance of signaling your intent so you don’t end up...

We’re starting a new conversation. Dominique has been collecting some topics to discuss from the coaching sessions that are part of my on-line clinics, from the new book, Modern Horse Training, and from conversations she’s seen on the internet. We cover four or five big topics so I have divided the conversation into two parts. We’ll begin with a discussion of tying. On the internet Dominique ran across what turned into a very heated discussion about whether or not you should tie your...

This is part 3 of a conversation about my new book: Modern Horse Training. In our previous conversation, Dominique started at the end of the book to talk about riding. Now we’re back at the beginning of the book. Dominique picked out three elements that stood out for her that contribute to what is meant by modern horse training. In Part 1 we talked about constructional training - what that means and the clarity it brings to training. A second element is of course loopy training. In...

In this conversation about “Modern Horse Training” we’re back at the beginning of the book. Dominique has been thinking about what has been added to our understanding of clicker training since she first began to look at it 15 years ago. The answer is a lot. For Dominique three elements stood out in the beginning of the book. The first was the addition of constructional training. That was the focus of Part 1 of our conversation. Now we’re looking at shaping and what happens when you flip...

Surprise, surprise, of course, we are talking about the new book. In Episodes 232-233 Dominique took our discussion to the end of the book to the section on riding. In this conversation we’re back at the beginning of the book. Dominique has been thinking about what has been added to our understanding of clicker training since she first began to look at it 15 years ago. The answer is a lot. For Dominique three elements stood out in the beginning of the book. The first was the addition of...

Episode 233 Modern Horse Training - Riding Pt 2 This is the second half of our conversation about riding. It is inspired by my new book, Modern Horse Training. In this conversation Dominique jumped straight to the last part of the book to the section on riding. Last week Dominique got us started with the chapter on Riding Safety. We talked about teaching a go forward cue. Now we’re going to talk about teaching whoah. And that’s going to take us to some important elements that are part...

The new book has been out for just a week so of course we want to talk about it! In this conversation Dominique jumped straight to the last part of the book to the chapters on riding. We begin with the first of the riding chapters which is focused on safety. Dominique was excited to see how the lessons that were taught first one the ground can be used to create a great start to riding. This is a chapter (and an episode) for people who are starting young horses under saddle, or who are...

It’s here! Finally! I am delighted to announce that my new book, “Modern Horse Training: A Constructional Guide to Becoming Your Horse’s Best Friend”, is now available. You can order it through Amazon and through my web site: theclickercenter.com as well as from other booksellers. It is available in hardcover, paperback and as an ebook. Earlier in the month I surprised Dominique with an advanced copy, so in this episode Dominique is giving the book its very first review. Spoiler...

This is Part 3 of our conversation with Dr. Claire St Peter. In addition to being a horse person, Claire is a behavior analyst. She teaches at West Virginia University. Her research focuses on improving outcomes for children who struggle in school. One of her areas of interest is extinction and in particular the generative effects of extinction. Extinction is our general topic. In Part 1 Claire got us started by defining extinction. She thought that would take just a couple of minutes, but...

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Claire St Peter. In addition to being a horse person, Claire is a behavior analyst. She teaches at West Virginia University. Her research focuses on improving outcomes for children who struggle in school. One of her areas of interest is extinction and in particular the generative effects of extinction. Extinction is our general topic. Last week Claire got us started by defining extinction. She thought that would take just a couple of minutes, but...