Fw: [Freeflight] RE:Clicker training

["Lisa Phoenix" <lphoenix@e...>]

sorry if this posts twice -
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Lisa Phoenix 
To: Freeflight@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 9:25 AM
Subject: Re: [Freeflight] RE:Clicker training

Hi Kim, may i try?
It may help to think of the bridge as a "snapshot" that tells your bird "that's exactly right, and now you get a treat." It isn't always possible to get a reinforcer to the bird's beak at the exact moment that s/he's doing what you want, so it "bridges" the gap. Used this way the bridge also ends the behavior, because bird is now looking for the reinforcer.

Using a bridge helps you shape behavior - a little higher, a longer, etc. After awhile the bridge itself becomes a reinforcer - a confirmation for the bird that s/he got it right. Because it ends the behavior, some people use an additional "keep going" signal at more advanced stages of training, like in the middle of a behavior chain, to tell the bird, "yes! keep going."

Clickers and whistles make great bridges because they are both neutral and fast, so they can be as accurate for fine-tuning as your timing is. Words can be used as bridges, cues (commands) and reinforcers (rewards). After the bird has learned a behavior ( understands the cue, has generalized the behavior to different locations and distractions) there is no technically no need to bridge, but i usually switch to a verbal "good" anyway, and i always reinforce, sometimes with food and sometimes with environmental rewards ( if you let me put on your harness, you can go outside) and sometimes with praise and cuddles - whatever the bird finds most valuable.
Hope this helps, and others please chime in -
lisa
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Kimberly Knox 
To: Freeflight@yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 8:27 AM
Subject: RE: [Freeflight] RE:Clicker training

Hi Jeni,

Jeni: A clicker isn't used to maintain already learned behavior, it is
used to teach new ones. So, if you want to teach a new behavior, in all
likelihood, you wouldn't be caught without a clicker. If you wanted to
reinforce something already learned when you didn't have a clicker, you
can still do that.

Kim: So why not with words or gestures? I realize that "we" use words
in a sloppy way (which is what I meant by "mushy"). "NO" is my favorite
example--if you think of the zillions of ways we use or intone that
word, who the heck can figure out what it means? Consistency is KEY.

Jeni: It's not tricky, I promise. And all my animals will tell you it's
real, they promise <g>.

Kim: I know it produces results. I'm trying to understand WHY. Do you
think (or know) it is about consistency, or is it the physical
percussive action on the ear? A whistle would satisfy both consistency
and percussive elements (in a noisy--or distant environment).... 

Jeni: The click doesn't replace "come here", because "come here" is a
cue, not a reinforcer.

Kim: Check me out here: A cue is something (sound, gesture) that
indicates that a behavior is to be executed. A reinforcer would be
something (treat, petting) to follow up a success. Right?

Jeni: So, a typical behavior set would look like this: (KIM'S NOTES
FOLLOW IN BOLD)

"Q come here" (THIS IS THE CUE, RIGHT?)
Q comes as requested (BEHAVIOR)
"Click" (from the clicker) (ISN'T THIS A BRIDGE?)
Kim hands Q a treat or other good thing (REINFORCER)

Kim: So the advantage of a clicker is speed (so it's associated as
closely as possible with a behavior) and consistency. Correct?

Please correct me if I've missed anything you said. I believe I am
understanding these concepts more clearly. Darn! Q can take apart and
put together the most amazing puzzles...and yet, her brain really
doesn't work like mine does. She seems to be on such a similar track
most of the time that the differences are always so surprising to me!

(My husband is the same way).

Thanks Jeni!

Kim Knox