So – after all my new comprehension of operant conditioning, my devouring of books and videos, and my clumsy shaping attempts, we randomly discovered that Karen Pryor’s Clicker Expo (a multi-day expo of lecture type sessions – plus some hands on ‘labs’ with dogs) is coming to Texas. I could not be more excited since this removes the costly expense of flying and will be a hugely exciting look into the science and technical skills of operant conditioning and shaping. I’m actually EXCITED that this isn’t an agility workshop or obedience workshop – because I want to learn and practice the underlying principles at this point and then I will be able to apply them on my own.
Each time slot has a choice of 3 different sessions, plus 2 ‘labs’ – so you have to make some tough choices on where you spend your time. Gitta will be the dog I bring to the hands on ‘labs’. Here is what I’ve decided to attend (lengthy – but I wanted to capture it somewhere – feel free to skim):
FRIDAY
Reaching the Animal Mind: Opening Plenary Session
Karen Pryor, Aaron Clayton
Clicker training is a lot more than a method or a training approach; it’s the leading edge of a new technology. Clicker training is a replicable, transferable, and reliable system by which many people can learn to do something that previously had been difficult, chancy, and requiring immeasurable individual skill. A technology does not limit you to one use: to dogs but not horses; to gymnasts but not pilots; to pets but not police dogs. A technology can have as many applications as there are people to think them up. At ClickerExpo you’ll meet some of the most brilliant innovators in the field, the people who are taking this technology further every day. Your host Karen Pryor, trainer, teacher, and scientist, is one of those people. With highlights from her new book, Reaching the Animal Mind, Karen will share with you her latest perspectives on clicker training as a communication system, one that all of us, from beginners to experts, can use, not just to communicate with animals, but to understand when animals communicate back.
A Moment of Science: Clicker training 101 – Part 1
Kathy Sdao
Are you new to clicker training? Or are you using it, but a bit confused by the terminology and the reasons behind what we do? Here’s a crash course, in two parts, on clicker training, learning theory, and the laws governing how learning really works. You’ll learn what you need to know about the underlying science to get out of the gate fast.Kathy Sdao, psychologist, marine mammal trainer, and dog professional, is a gifted teacher who will help you understand why the principles work and what all the terms really mean. Start your ClickerExpo experience on Friday with these two Sessions, and you will have the foundation and vocabulary to help you understand, enjoy, and benefit from the rest of the program.
Shaping!: Build the Behavior You Want
Helix Fairweather, Joan Orr
Shaping behavior by reinforcing small steps toward a future goal is one of the core processes of clicker training, and a vital skill for the trainer. It is often hard for trainers to make the shift from luring, prompting, or leading the animal through the desired movements, to letting the animal discover what “works” on its own, but the benefits to both trainer and animal are enormous. Shaping builds the trainer’s observational and mechanical skills, and is the foundation of teaching complex behaviors, making training fun for the animal and strengthening the relationship between animal and trainer.We’ll review the foundations of solid shaping technique, including how to begin a shaping session, how to build behavior in increments, how and why to employ a high rate of reinforcement, and how to appropriately raise criteria. We’ll also cover open-ended/creative shaping versus goal-oriented shaping so that you can employ both intentionally and appropriately.Trainers who have never shaped before, or have done limited shaping, or trainers who are frustrated with their shaping results will all benefit from this Session. We’ll use live shaping demonstrations with dogs from the audience to illustrate important shaping concepts and techniques.
Out of the Gate: Practice for New Handlers and Dogs
Hands-on With Dog
Emma Parsons
This Learning Lab is a hands-on follow-up to the Moment of Science Session (Part 1). Now that your head is buzzing with what clicker training is all about, come and practice! This Lab is a solid introduction for those new to clicker training, and serves as a refresher for those uncertain about their own basic practices. Participants will be involved in exercises that develop both mechanical and observational skills. These include mechanics of clicking, timing of clicking, treat delivery, and the beginning of shaping. You’ll begin to sharpen your timing and observational skills and then put it all together to teach new behaviors!
Saturday
What a Cue Can Do: Developing Cueing Skills
Kathy Sdao
Effective cueing is essential for achieving reliable responses. The process of adding cues in clicker training is different than in other training methods. Getting behaviors on cue is often the most difficult concept for new clicker trainers to understand, because the process is somewhat counterintuitive.This Learning Session is about choosing and maintaining effective cues for operant behaviors, and is also about understanding how cues are integral to more advanced training applications. Kathy Sdao will show you how to use cues to gain control of operant behaviors. You’ll learn what a cue is—and isn’t—and how cues differ from commands. We’ll discuss how to choose cues to maximize clarity, how to transfer a known cue to a novel cue, and how cues function in behavior chains. You’ll also learn how cues can be transferred and combined to produce complex and flexible behaviors, and how to avoid the “good enough” syndrome.
What a Cue Can Do in Action Part 1: Cue Comprehension
Hands-on With Dog
Kathy Sdao
Cue comprehension is the foundation of fluent, reliable, real-life behavior. With a solid mastery of cueing, you’ll be able to minimize confusion in your trainees by choosing cues with more forethought—making the most of every training opportunity. In this Learning Lab, you’ll lean two different ways to add a cue to a behavior, how to extinguish off-cue behavior, and how to choose “animal-friendly” cues (ones that are easily perceived and understood). In-class exercises include adding a cue by fading a lure, and adding a cue by using temporal conditioning. We’ll use the science of classical conditioning to improve cue training, and contrast familiar methods of adding cues with a more clicker-based method.
Shaping!: In Action
Hands-on With Dog
Helix Fairweather, Joan Orr
This Learning Lab is designed for those new to shaping or uncertain about whether they’re on the right track with their shaping skills, including people who have trained their dogs primarily with lure/reward techniques but want to learn how to transition from luring to shaping. In this Lab you’ll learn how to shape, raise criteria to ensure success, use non-linear criteria, and shape using a high rate of reinforcement. We’ll work on improving your observational skills and your ability to deliver a high rate of reinforcement. If needed, we’ll explore exercises for “loosening up” dogs that are used to waiting politely for instruction/guidance from their handler rather than offering behaviors. Training exercises include: shaping a movement (spin or back up); shaping an interaction with an object (chair, ball, toy); shaping a target touch; and using the target to get started with shaping another behavior (leg weave, heeling, etc.). Depending on the skill level and progress of participating dog and handler teams, we may be able to demonstrate and discuss “next level” issues: How do you shape a longer duration behavior? How do you improve the shaped behavior after it is on cue? How do you teach the dog to work facing away from you, going away from you, or staying fifty feet off? Can you shape behavior in a noisy, distracting environment?
A Panel Discussion
Faculty
Saturday afternoon at ClickerExpo always finds us engaged in a Panel Discussion. Sound boring? Actually, it’s just the opposite! The questions are interesting, the answers are pithy, and the panelists are FUNNY. Put seven top trainers on one stage and you really see how many points of view there are on questions ranging from “What skills make a top trainer?” to “How do you personally work through spots where you seem to plateau?” One attendee described the Panel Discussion as “Better than the Tonight Show—and you don’t have to stay up late.” Attendees are invited to submit topics and questions in writing to moderator Aaron Clayton by Saturday morning. Want to learn more? You can listen to a past panel discussion and read the following panel discussion-related articles: Sharing the Wealth; Getting to the Core.
SUNDAY
Dog Toys?: Get Serious!
— Sponsored by KONG
The original KONG has long been used by pet owners for entertaining their pooches, but, increasingly, the training community has been finding broader roles for KONGs and other toys. Join KONG’s Behavior and Training Specialist Mark Hines to learn about some of these varied uses, including how to use dog toys to help solve canine behavioral challenges. Learn how dog toys are used by police and military K-9 trainers to motivate their K-9 partners. Mark will also cover helping you choose a safe dog toy that’s the right size.
The Mind of the Trainer: Live Training Demonstrations by Expo Faculty Narrated by Karen Pryor
Faculty
There’s nothing like seeing a skilled shaper in action to sharpen your own shaping skills. In this Session, members of the ClickerExpo Faculty will take turns free-shaping behavior with YOUR dogs, while Karen Pryor explains what’s going on. This is bound to be fascinating and fun. You’ll see great timing and high rates of reinforcement. You’ll see how quickly—or slowly—the seasoned shaper raises criteria. You’ll see shaping shortcuts and ingenious problem-solving on the fly. You’ll see flubs and accidental results, too; nobody’s perfect, and half the fun of shaping is the surprises along the way.
To Use or Not to Use: Complicated Training Tools
Ken Ramirez
The e-lists on clicker training are riddled with long discussions of particular operant methods that may or may not belong in your toolkit. Examples include the keep-going signal, the no reward marker (NRM), differential reinforcement of incompatible or other behavior (DRI/DRO), the least reinforcing stimulus (LRS), jackpots, timeouts, and a myriad of others. Many of these tools are useful only in very specific circumstances such as highly advanced stimulus control projects. Casual or incorrect use can be confusing to the learner or, worse, punishing. Ken Ramirez, highly experienced in the teaching of clicker trainers, takes away the mystery and confusion.
Using What You’ve Learned: How to Develop Your Own Training Plan
Ken Ramirez
Okay, you are at ClickerExpo. You learn a million exciting things and take reams of notes. Then you get home. Now what? Ken Ramirez, one of the country’s most respected marine mammal trainers, has personally trained a huge cadre of other operant trainers. Ken has put a lot of thought into the issue of using what you’ve learned, and in this Session he shares his insights with you. You’ll learn how to assess where you stand, and, perhaps more importantly, where your learners are right now. Are your dogs (or dolphins or horses or children or students) clicker-wise and ready for any challenge? Or do you need to build some foundation skills before trying everything you brought home? Instead of running to the “experts,” hoping someone can give you a recipe for fixing problem X or situation Y, find out how to develop your own training plan. Instead of thinking about each behavior as an obstacle, and each misbehaving organism as a problem, find out how to build alternate skills. This is a Session in how to recognize where you are, recognize where your learners are, and think through what to do next.
Plenary Session: Back to the Future! Conference Review and a Glimpse of What Lies Ahead
Karen Pryor, Aaron Clayton
ClickerExpo has fantastic breadth and depth. But that means you can’t be everywhere you’d like to be and see everything you’d like to see. In our final Session, we bring you highlights from the weekend, as well as experiences that faculty members want to share. We’ll take some time to summarize the three days and look at what comes next. Join us for this satisfying wrap-up.
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