Negative reinforcement gets a bad rap – after all, why would someone want to beat a horse? Why indeed! When asked about if they use negative reinforcement in their training, riders frequently assure one that they do not… ‘no, I only use positive reinforcement’ comes the earnest reply.
But in fact, negative reinforcement is indeed the trainer’s friend, and has nothing to do with beating horses or performing any other dodgy activities.
But what does negative reinforcement actually mean?
Unlike the common misconception that it is something ‘bad’ – as humans, we tend to associate the word ‘negative’ to averse consequences, for example a sarcastic remark is ‘negative’, a fight is ‘negative’; but negative reinforcement in animal training is simply the removal of something that results in improved responding rates.
While this terminology originates in behavioural psychology, the meaning can be found in the Concise Oxford Dictionary [negative n. 2. negative quality, absence of something, negative v.t. neutralize (effect)].
To understand this negative reinforcement, we also probably need to know what ‘reinforcement’ means… the Concise says that to reinforce something means ‘to strengthen or support’, including in quantity, size, importance – so this suggests an impression of an increase in force or magnitude.
But The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology, written by Arthur and Emily Reber recognises use of the term also elicits confusion among psychologists. Is it any wonder we are confused?! The Rebers – after a useful diatribe exploring ‘reinforcement’ finally come up with
any event, stimulus, act, response or information when made contingent upon the response that preceded it, serves to increase the relative frequency or likelihood of occurrence of that response.
Simply put, negative involves removal or absence, and a reinforcer increases responses – Simple!
What does it mean to a horse-rider? No matter what anyone says, people ride using negative reinforcement. The stimulis (aids) are applied using a bridle, bit, halter, string around the neck and the legs on the horse’s sides. The removal of the bit pressure or the leg pressure removes discomfort and signals to the horse that his response was correct. The horse has no way of determining that his response is ‘correct’ if he is not rewarded by a removal of the stimulus when the response occurs.
All good horsemen (yes, women too) know this. The Dorrance brothers knew this, Philippe Karl knows this, Andrew McLean knows this, Steffen Peters knows this. The old masters knew this ‘leg without hand, hand without leg’. Gas pedal and brakes do not go on together.
Repeat after me…
‘correct use of negative reinforcement is a good thing’!
At the most subtle level (blink and you will miss it) the best proponents of the German system may recognise this, but that system is terrible at expressing it or teaching riders to ride using correct negative reinforcement, with confusion produced by statements such as ‘the horse must be through’, and be ridden ‘with the forward-driving aids into the hand’, undoubtedly leading to some of the abominations seen at all levels of the sport with horses suffering from relentless pressure.
Another day, we will explore positive reinforcement – also a good thing!
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post!
There’s a few points I probably differ with you a bit on, but I really really liked this article.
Negative Reinforcement gets a bad rap a lot of times because people don’t understand the definition of it and don’t want to be seen as doing anything “negative.” Many people equate negative reinforcement with punishment or will tell me that pressure/release isn’t negative reinforcement.
No one understands positive reinforcement either, though, most of the time! People do what they consider to be nice things, then call it positive reinforcement. However, if you pat your horse (or even feed him treats) and it doesn’t affect his behavior, you’re not using positive reinforcement.
“The horse has no way of determining that his response is ‘correct’ if he is not rewarded by a removal of the stimulus when the response occurs.”
Yes….if you are training only with negative reinforcement.
The horse could also know that his response is correct if you follow the response with something positive. For instance, I started teaching one of our geldings to lower his head on cue the other day.
I threw a lead rope on the ground. He’s naturally a curious guy, so he reached his nose down and sniffed it. Click and treat. Repeated this about 10-15 more times until he was doing it quickly and consistenly. Then I started raising my hand up above his head right before he started putting his head down. If we repeat this a few more sessions, I should have a nice heads down cue without ever having to put pressure on his poll or pull on the lead rope.
However, there is a time and place for negative reinforcement, just due to the very way we interact with our horses. Unlike dog training, many of our horse cues are tactile, which lend well to negative reinforcement. The gelding in the example above will probably need to be taught that a bit of poll pressure or a bit of lead rope pressure can also mean lower your head.
I’ve heard trainer Alexandra Kurland say “pressure as information.” I like thinking of well-applied negative reinforcement this way. Too often when I see people using negative reinforcement, the horse’s motivation is out of fear, and you can see the horse’s frustration or stress. With negative reinforcement, we have to apply something the horse is willing to work to avoid. So, even if it doesn’t seem aversive to us, at some level it is mildly aversive to the horse.
However, this doesn’t have to mean we have to cause undue stress, frustration or fear. If I apply the lightest pressure to the halter, aiming backwards, and then wait, the horse will eventually give me a weight shift back. I can take this, refine it, and gradually ask for more. And more and more. Until I have the horse smartly backing the length of the arena from the lightest cue, without ever having to use a great amount of pressure. And this process will go even faster if I throw in a cookie every now and then.
I do use negative reinforcement in my training, there’s no way to avoid it and plenty of times it’s actually useful. However, I try to also increase the amount of positives I use. I find this creates a different mindset for my horses. They’re mainly working towards something they want, rather than working to get rid of a stimulus they don’t want.
Of course, both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, if applied badly or with bad timing, will give you less than optimal results.
Thanks for this article. I hope many people will read it, as I wish horse people were better educated about the science of learning and behavior.
Mary
sorry! didn’t realize how long that last comment was!
Mary
Thanks Mary, like reinforcement, the message has to be effective, and I really like what you have put here. Just the sort of discussion I was hoping to encourage.
Wow great post on one of my favorite topics! Well Mary took most of the words right out of my mouth! Negative reinforcement is what we horse people use in everyday life to communicate with our horses from “traditional” dressage trainers all the way to Pat Parelli “natural” horsemanship. I really wish that more riders and trainers had a basic knowledge of these concepts. Negative reinforcement has it’s draw backs of course just as positive does. When done improperly it causes habituation to the cues…. or dull horses.
Also Mary says it best here “With negative reinforcement, we have to apply something the horse is willing to work to avoid. So, even if it doesn’t seem aversive to us, at some level it is mildly aversive to the horse.” Not very motivational is it?
I am experimenting with using positive and negative reinforcement in my training now. I really do love the way positively reinforced horses search for the right answer and are more interactive.
Great post!
Hi Molly,
Yes, indeedy, positive reinforcement has so much going for it, and I am sure will become more accepted in horse training circles in the future.
Some horses are VERY motivated by reinforcement by food, yet not so much by pressure, so it is a very viable alternative.
Looking forward to more of these discussions!
It is not enough that you are only good in ridding a horse since like owning a car there are also responsibilities you have to take. This will really help us to know what are those things.