Operant Conditioning

Operant Conditioning is
“learning according to consequences.”

Behaviors that are rewarded (reinforced) are

more likely to be repeated.

Behaviors that are punished are less likely

to be repeated.

First developed by B.F. Skinner, Operant Conditioning

is an important part of Behaviorism and Learning Theory
 Positive Negative
Add Take Away
Something Something

Positive Negative
Reinforcement Reinforcement
Reward
(Reinforcement) Add Wanted Thing to Take Away Unwanted Thing to
Increases Reward Reward
the behavior

Punishment Positive Negative

Decreases
the behavior
Punishment Punishment
Add Unwanted Thing to Take Away Wanted Thing to
Punish Punish
 Positive Negative
Add Take Away
Something Something

W
Ye

he
ah

w
!

!
Reward
Take Away
(Reinforcement)
Bad Thing
Increases
the behavior
Positive Reinforcement Negative Reinforcement

No
Punishment uc

o
h!

o!
Decreases
the behavior
Take Away
Good Thing

Positive Punishment Negative Punishment

 Positive
Add
Something

O
Punishment uc
Decreases h!
the behavior

Positive Punishment
 Negative
Take Away
Something

No
Punishment

oo!
Decreases
the behavior
Take Away
Good Thing

Negative Punishment
 Negative
Take Away
Something

W
he
w
!
Reward Take Away
(Reinforcement) Bad Thing
Increases
the behavior
Negative Reinforcement
 Positive
Add
Something

Ye
ah
!
Reward
(Reinforcement)
Increases
the behavior
Positive Reinforcement
 Horsemanship Examples
Positive = Negative =
Something is Something is
added taken away

Reinforcement
(Reward)
Increases the
behavior

Punishment
Decreases the
behavior
 Positive Negative
Add Take Away
Something Something

Reward
(Reinforcement)
Increases
the behavior Boss gives big bonus for doing Boss stands over you and yells at you
excellent work. until you fix your mistake.

Punishment
Decreases
the behavior

Boss smacks you, because you Boss takes away your bonus,
said that you didn’t like him. because you broke a rule.
VS.
 Human Examples
Positive = Negative =
Something is Something is
added taken away

Reinforcement
(Reward) A bonus or award for Boss stops yelling at us
Increases the doing a great job at work. when we do more.
behavior

Punishment
Decreases the
behavior

Boss criticizes us in front Boss cuts our bonus in

of others for mistake. half for being late to work.
 Punishment: Pros vs Cons
Pros
 Creates immediate, short-term
suppression of undesirable or
dangerous behavior
Dangerous patterns occur when
person mistakenly creates the unsafe
situation and then punishes the horse
to keep control and stay safe.
Cons
 Not useful for teaching new skills or
encouraging behavior.
 Does not get rid of unwanted
behaviors. Only suppresses them.
 Stress of punishment slows
learning process
 Increases fight, flight, freeze, and
refuse responses
 Decreases the desire to cooperate
 Higher chances of physical injury
and mental issues
 Horse gets desensitized to
punishment and it takes
increasingly higher levels of
pressure to get same results
 Reinforcement (Reward)
Pos. Reinforcement Neg. Reinforcement
Add something good. Remove something unwanted.

 Reward triggers chemical of  The “rider’s aids” and “pressure

dopamine in brain for feelings of and release” fall into this category
personal pride and pleasure
 Can have same negative side
 Outstanding motivator! Builds effects as punishment over time
“game show” enthusiasm in learner
 If horse can’t control “turning off”
 Good attitudes at work mean more the unwanted pressure, LEARNED
gets done with higher quality HELPLESSNESS is taught (gives
up and copes with pressure)
 Increases learning and memory
 If unwanted pressure is used as
 Most effective for teaching new softly as possible and eventually
skills and gaining understanding not needed at all, this is called
 Increases effort, dedication, and ACTIVE AVOIDANCE and is ideal
loyalty in worker/student (a.k.a. invisible aids)
 The Ideal Training Process
1. Build rapport & leadership.
In every interaction, we are all
forming opinions about other individuals
and the nature of our relationship with
them. It’s on going. It’s not an event.
2. Tell the horse what you want
with language, not discomfort.
Communication is two or more
individuals sharing and understanding an
idea. Adding pressure to motivate the
horse at this point kills rapport and trust.
3. “Listen” to his response.
If he’s calm, connected, and
understands, he will try. If he’s expecting
punishment, he will fight, flee, freeze, or
refuse. If he’s calm but confused, he’ll
ask a question.
4. Give him what he needs
according to his response.
If he tries, reward him. If he is
reactive, calm him and ask him for
something easy to build confidence. If
he hesitates, politely ask again with more
information (not necessarily more
pressure).
5. Shape the behavior.
Teach the new task by separating it
into small, easy pieces. Then add
difficulty to each piece, or string them
together. Every right answer is a building
block to creating the end goal.
*** If there is trouble with motivation, use
psychology and change timing or nature
of the rewards. Punishment does not
work for teaching or increasing behavior.