A Basic Understanding of Operant Conditioning

To train any animal one must have a solid understanding of what is called the “four quadrants of operant conditioning”. The four quadrants are the pillars that animal learning and training are built upon. It can seem confusing at first but they truly are simple. They are as follows.

1. Positive reinforcement. - A technique used to encourage a desirable behavior. Also called positive feedback, in which the patient or subject receives encouraging and favorable communication from another person / being. (In the case of Dog – Human relationships.)
2. Positive punishment - the use (addition) of an undesirable stimulus to modify or prevent an undesirable behavior.
3. Negative Reinforcement - a form of behavior modification in which the removal of something after an operant (behavior) increases the probability of the operant’s recurrence.
4. Negative Punishment - a form of behavior modification in which the removal of something after an operant (behavior) decreases the probability of the operant's recurrence.

When used effectively, these techniques will lead you and your canine companion to a healthy and balanced relationship. Before I go any further I want to stress that punishments are a last resort. I see it all the time; people resort to punishment far too early in the learning process. This only goes against your goals. Punishment (especially physical punishment) can slow down the process of learning. The other thing I see when people use punishment, is that they do not use punishment at the appropriate time. Timing in dog training is everything. Use it too late or too early and you potential increase or decrease behaviors that you may not want to.

It has taken me years to truly understand the subtleties of the four quadrants. One of the best things one can do when using these techniques is think outside of the box. We all too often disregard forms of reinforcement because we do not see them as reinforcement. The popular one is yelling at your dog. People say to me “when my dog barks out the window I yell at him to stop and he never does.” I say to them “after sharing that information with me can you see where your behavior may fit into the four quadrants?  Is it decreasing behavior?” “No”. “Well than where does it land?” “It lands in positive reinforcement.” We are adding (positive) a loud tone. The dog’s behavior increases or maintains intensity. This has had the opposite effect of what we want. So we have to evaluate our behavior and ask ourselves: where does what I am doing land in the four quadrants?

Here is the tricky part. Our dogs are constantly in a flux of behavior. One day something you do very well could act as a punisher for behavior. The next day that same stimulus no longer is. So you have to constantly monitor what you are doing and ask yourself, is it working?  

When we first started Best Paw Forward, I was in a state of questioning these methods. I wondered if they really worked because I had some hard cases that seemed hopeless. After a long hard look I realized that my behavior had not fully changed. I had to take a long hard look at myself.

When I changed my behavior I got better results from my dogs. One cannot imagine the impact of subtle shifts in our behavior.