Understanding Learning Principles- Break Down of Operant Conditioning

Save the unicorns! 🦄


Understand the quadrants of Operant Conditioning!


And remember: It’s science! 🧫🧪🧬


*An aversive is something a horse doesn’t like.


*An appetitive is something a horse likes.


1. Positive Punishment
Adding something the horse doesn’t like to decrease a behavior.


Example: The horse paws the ground while tied, so Susie smacks him on the shoulder.


2. Negative Punishment
Taking away something the horse likes to decrease a behavior.


Example: Greg walks away with the bucket of feed when his horse bangs on the stall door.


3. Negative Reinforcement
Taking away something the horse doesn’t like to increase a behavior.


Example: Kate stops pulling back on the reins when her horse comes to a halt.


4. Positive Reinforcement
Adding something the horse likes to increase behavior.


Example: Kevin gives his horse a treat when he comes to him in the field.


✨We like to use mostly postive reinforcement because we want our horses to learn what behaviors we want to see more of and we want them to be happy while they’re learning them!