Equiosity

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Episode 182 Picking Criteria - Which Way Up Is Your Training Funnel? Apr 07, 2022

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How do you choose your starting criterion? That’s the question that launches this week’s podcast. It takes us to the image of a funnel. Do you start at the broad end of the funnel and narrow down or do you flip the funnel and begin at the narrow end?

Episode 181 Spanish Walk, Building Confident Puzzle Solvers, Balance And The Stay At Home Clinics Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

We’ve been talking about my new Stay-at-Home, Learn-from-Home clinics, but as always that’s taken us down some great rabbit holes. This week Dominique starts us off with some questions about Spanish Walk. That takes us to a discussion of puzzle solving. When is it okay to “Let the horse figure it out”? It’s a common phrase in the training world. When is that a good strategy, and when are you eroding the confidence of your learner that he can figure out the puzzles you set for him? Puzzles take us to observation skills and balance - central topics that are part of all of the Stay-at-Home, Learn-from-Home clinics. The clinics are now open. You can learn more about them and register for them at my web site: theclickercenter.com. There you’ll find detailed descriptions of all eight clinics and the overall concept behind these on-line clinics. Geography doesn’t matter. Wherever you live, you can join in. You don’t need to put your horse on a trailer. Save the gas and join us on line instead. My goal for these clinics is a simple one. I want use the advantages that teaching on line creates to develop skilled positive reinforcement trainers. I want you to become balance obsessed the way I am, and I want to help you develop a deep connection with your horse through kind, thoughtful constructive training. Again visit theclickercenter.com to learn more.

Episode 180 Constructional Training, Building Blocks, And The New Stay At Home Clinics Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

We are talking about my new Stay-at-Home, Learn-from-Home clinics, That’s taking us down some fun rabbit holes. Last week we stopped just as we were getting to constructional training and Goldiamond’s four questions. That’s where we begin in this episode. We’ll be talking about pigeons as well as horses.

Episode 179: 2022 Clinic Announcement Plus The Value Of Video Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

At long last, I have opened my 2022 Stay at Home - Learn at Home Clinics for enrollment. I have been getting daily inquiries about the clinics and now I am delighted to say you can now register in Course #1. In this episode don't just talk about the clinics. Most of the conversation centers around the value of video taping your session. This episode will give you lots of great reasons to get out your camera and begin the habit of recording your training.

Episode #178 The Old Debate - Nurture Vs Nature - How This Impacts Training Choices Feb 26, 2022

Show notes

Dominique was intrigued by several of the panel discussions at the recent Clicker Expo. It sent her off into an exploration of the much debated nature versus nurture question. She wasn’t trying to solve the puzzle. Her question was how does the interplay between genes and the environment influence the training choices we make? Dominique is a good researcher. She did her homework and that’s what she is sharing in this episode.

Episode 177: Dr Claire St Peter Part 3: Inconsistency, Superstitious Behavior, And Solutions Feb 16, 2022

Show notes

In part 3 of our conversation with Dr. Claire St Peter we cover a lot of ground, including what fills the space between the larger steps we typically focus on. Claire shares some research studies beginning with Skinner that look at how superstitious behaviors develop and what you can do to change those patterns. What happens when new people begin positive reinforcement training and there are many inconsistencies in their training? What does inconsistency do to training outcomes? And how do you set up ethical studies when you think the effect may be negative. When you use reinforcement inconsistently, Claire shares some studies that indicate that you do indeed get behavior going, but in ways you might not expect. The superstitious patterns that emerged were very hard to change. It shows the importance of training in clean loops. Claire shows us how these patterns emerge - and also how to change them. In addition to this we also talk about some creative ideas for training multiple animals.

Episode 176 Dr Claire St Peter Part 2 What Causes Behavior To Relapse? Feb 08, 2022

Show notes

This week we continue our conversation with Dr. Claire St Peter. Claire received her PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in Behavior Analysis from the University of Florida in 2006. She is currently a Professor of Psychology, the Director of Graduate Training, and the Coordinator of the Behavior Analysis program area at West Virginia University. She is also a horse enthusiast so in this conversation we get to explore all her interests. In Part 1 we began with mastery-based learning and then Claire introduced us to the concept of super resurgence. In Part 2 we begin with the reasons why behavior relapses. That will take us to quadratic equations, philosophical answers contrasted with ethical ones, loopy training and the constructional approach, variable and continuous reinforcement schedules, and collaborations between trainers and researchers. It’s a fun, wide-ranging conversation that takes us down some unexpected but fun rabbit holes.

Episode 175: Dr Claire St Peter Part 1: Mastery - Based Learning And Super Resurgence Feb 04, 2022

Show notes

This week we continue to explore the connection between teaching programs that have been developed for classrooms and the work we do with our horses. We are joined by Dr. Claire St Peter. Claire received her PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in Behavior Analysis from the University of Florida in 2006. She is currently a Professor of Psychology, the Director of Graduate Training, and the Coordinator of the Behavior Analysis program area at West Virginia University. She serves as the current Editor-in-Chief for the journal Education and Treatment of Children. Her research focuses on improving outcomes for children who struggle in school, identifying generative effects of extinction, determining how well reinforcement-based teaching procedures work in application by novice implementers, and teaching others to use behavioral approaches. That’s the academic bio. Claire is also a horse person. In 2021 she saw my Clicker Expo presentations and decided to take a deeper look at my work. She attended my virtual clinics and Science Camp. One of the things Claire enjoys are collaborations that let her blend her research interests with her passion for horses. I enjoy collaborations as well, so I was delighted when Claire started attending my virtual clinics. That’s given us many opportunities to have some fascinating conversations. And now it’s clearly time to share some of those conversations in this podcast. In this episode we begin with mastery based learning - what is it and why is it relevant to our horses? Claire ends by introducing us to super resurgence. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out what that means and what it has to do with horses.

Episode 174: Lucy Butler Part 3: From The Classroom Back To The Barn Jan 26, 2022

Show notes

Lucy is a horse owner and a clicker trainer, and as you know by now she is also a special ed teacher. At the start of this school year she was assigned all the repeaters for freshman year, that is all the students who had failed ninth grade. Through her horse Lucy connected first with me and then through Science Camp with Dr Claire St Peter. Claire has been helping her develop a mastery-based system in which her students can thrive. In this part of the conversation we move from the classroom back to the barn to find out what Lucy what she has learned from her students that she is taking back to her horse.

Episode 173: Lucy Butler Part 2: Celebrate Success Jan 17, 2022

Show notes

Lucy Butler is a horse owner and a clicker trainer. Lucy is also a special ed teacher at a high school. At the start of this school year she was assigned all the repeaters for freshman year, that is all the students who had failed ninth grade. Lucy is going to take us into her classroom to see how her students are learning how to celebrate success. Some of you may be thinking - what has this got to do with horse training? I will answer with: everything is everything else. Horses influence every part of our lives and the connections are worth celebrating. It’s a loop that goes in both directions. Lucy explored positive reinforcement teaching and constructional design first with her dogs and her horse. She took the principles to her classroom. She’s working with a challenging group of learners, and they are thriving. In this podcast Lucy shares the discoveries she’s been making. What she’s learning from her students can help us all be better teachers for our own learners, no matter the species. Enjoy

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