For this homework please read don't shoot the dog. You Do Not Have To Make A Mind Map. Next visit with your textbook and look up what it has to say about the material you just read.
When you are done:
1) Discuss what you read in the reader. Think about what you learned from the reader. What were the main points the author was trying to make? What were some examples she used? What was the most interesting part of the chapter - etc.? Don't simply answer these questions; these are just some things to ask yourself before you start writing. I am pretty open to what you write about.
2) Discuss what you read in your text. How did the author of your text book go about addressing the related material? What did you find out about the topic that wasn't covered in the reader? What did you find interesting that was presented in the text? How difficult was it to find the related material in the text? Again don't specifically answer these questions, just use them as a way to think about the material. Feel free to experiment with your own style.
3) After you have had a chance to think about the material - what parts do you think you will remember and what parts do you think might fade from memory sooner.
4) Make a list of the terms and terminology you used in this post.
The final chapter of this book served partially as a background for how the clicker craze got started. Karen describes some of the projects she did and how fast information via the internet is spreading. Normal individuals, as well as scientists and psychologists, are sharing their findings and teaching each other more about the keys to condtioning.
The main focus of this chapter was put on clicker training. Seeing as she had already explained to us what clicker training was in a previous chapter, chapter 6 was spent on explaining some more of its practical uses and benefits.
Pryor discusses six main benefits of clicker training.
1.Long term recal: Animals that are trained using this method seem to retain what they learn quicker and for longer periods of time. The example she gave for this, which I found adorable, was of a cat that she had taught to play the piano. Using the word 'good' and small bits of food Pryor had taught the cat to play, but shortly after the cat no longer offered the behavior. One night when the cat was unhappy with its current location, it offered piano playing in hopes of getting reinforced. This may be a case of spontaneous recovery.
2.Accelerated learning: One of the greatest things about clicker training is how fast it catches on. Things that would normally take months to train a dog can be done in hours using this method. This benefit may be the result, according to Pryor, of good timing on the part of the trainers, as well as a better understanding of how to increase the criteria in steps.
3.Ability to lose the clicker: Many people thinnk that if you start with the clicker you have to keep it, but in reality the clicker serves as any other reinforcer and can eventually be left out. The clicker can be replaced by alternate forms of praise such as a nod or petting the animal.
4.Boosts creativity: This is probably my favorite result of clicker training. There is so much that animals are capable of, but they are rarely put in situations that call for innovative thinking. Clicker training allows them to try new things in an effort to get a click. An example she gave of this was the 101 Things to do With a Box game. Here an animal is put with a box and is allowed to do different things with it. When the animal does something the trainer finds to be fun, interesting, or new the animal gets a click. This is fun for the animal as well as the trainer.
5.Freedom from fear: When clicker training is used properly, actual punishment is not involved. This means the animal is free to experiment with new things without worrying about being punished. This allows for greater levels of creativity as well as creating a more fun, less stressful environment.
The chapter also discussed ways that clicker training can be useful to people and is not just an "animal" thing. One great example was a woman and her twins. She had always had trouble getting them to bed so she decided to use clicker training and pennies are reinforcers to get them asleep at a more decent hour. They would get a click and a penny for each step of the process they did. As time went on she had to reinforce less and less often, making her interval scheduling stretch over longer periods. By then end they were getting to bed about an hour and a half sooner.
It was hard to find much on this topic in the text, but I did find a small section on clicker training and bits on other aspects of the chapter
The text actually mentions Karen's book and her work. Pierce and Cheney compar cliker training to the "hot and cold" game. When the animal is "hot" they get a click, but when they are "cold" they don't. They agree that this method is very effective when it comes to working with animals. Unlike Pryor, however, they do not mention its use with humans.
There were also some things I was reading in the text that I personally think can be connected to clicker training. The first is extinction bursts. I am not going to say that they do not occur at all in clicker training, but from what I am understanding about the use of clickers it would seem they are less likely to occur than with normal training methods. I think this may partly be due to the fact that when an animal is being clicker trained the trainer is paying more attention and is more away of the animals's behaviors. It may also be that reinforcement is slowly decreased so the animal does not feel it is offering behaviors for nothing. Overall the animal is better guided by clicker training.
Another is operant variability. I think there is greater variablilty when clicker training is used. According to the text this is when the animal will increase the variability in its behaviors in hopes of being reinforced. I think this fits perfectly. When an animal no longer recieves a click for the action it once did, the animal will try different things in hopes of getting a click.
I don't think there is much I will forget from this chapter. I think this is because the chapter was more about uses and benefits than about new terms. I will be able to recall the good things about positive reinforcement and clicker training long after this class is over. I may not remember the history aspect of it though. As far as Skinner's involvement and how it has developed, these are things I am sure will fade with time.
Terms: Positive reinforcement, extinction burst, operant variability, clicker training,spontaneous recovery, and punishment
1. The final chapter of the reader was all about clicker training. Pryor started out by talking about how fast clicker training caught on and how people were using it to train their animals to do all kinds of things. I was reading through some of her examples and saw one that I’ve actually seen. My uncle taught his Weimaraner to run upstairs and signal to my aunt to hand him a beer from the refrigerator. My aunt would hand the dog the beer and then the dog would take it to my uncle in the basement of the house. He didn’t use a clicker but trained the dog to do all kinds of things as well as Pheasant Hunt. He is a very well behaved and trained dog. Pryor then goes on in the chapter to discuss how clicker training in dogs and other animals has a lasting effect. The animals can remember the behaviors. It’s like with my aunts’ dog, after my uncle died this last summer my cousin took the dog pheasant hunting this season and he didn’t need to retrain him or re-establish the behavior. The dog remembered it and did just as well as in the past. Pryor also explains that clicker training other behaviors with a clicker is learned faster than without because the animals have a recall of how it works. She then goes on to explain that the clicker isn’t needed forever. The behavior can still be emitted without the external stimulus of the clicker. The cue can be used without the clicker and still have the same outcome. I think the most interesting part of the chapter is when she discussed clicker training in humans. She used the example of training pilots. When they go to look at the instruments they need to let go of the controls so they don’t turn the plane. They have been taught to never let go of the wheel when they were taught to drive. If the students are reinforced with the click they will learn to let go of the controls.
2. Clicker training is mentioned in chapter 10 of the text. The text actually refers to Pryor and Don’t Shoot The Dog. The text also compares clicker training to the hot and cold game. When animals are learning a target behavior they are somewhat searching for the right behavior to get the click and treat. The click means hot and no click cold. I had never really thought of it in that way before but it makes a lot of sense. The text also explains that the results can be short lived because of extinction. Extinction would occur if the animal lost interest in the clicker without the treats to follow. However the text also mentions Skinners research where he concluded that conditioning can be effective before a state of extinction. I was surprised that the text didn’t have more information on clicker training, instead of one page. I actually think the reader covered more related material than the text in this situation.
3. I will definitely remember clicker training because I have personally seen it used to train dogs. I think the reader did a nice job explaining how it can work really well and how things have to be maintained in order to keep it up. I don’t think I will remember how it’s used in society because there weren’t very many examples other than the one with the pilots in training. We don’t see clicker training being used on adults/humans so it’s hard to relate.
4. Clicker training, signal, recall behavior, emitted, external stimulus, cue, target behavior, and extinction.
This chapter discussed the use of internet, and how it spread knowledge about clicker training. People were spreading information whether they were scientists or just avid dog owners. Many of the people discussed in this chapter described the wiliness of the animals or children to learn, and how they seemed happier to learn more.
There were a few main parts of this book that described the benefits of clicker training. The first was Long-Term Recall. Pryor gives us an insight on her experience with clicker training a cat to play the piano. After two years of being trained, the cat played the piano to get attention. This story showed how powerful the training is. She talked about how it had to do with the positive reinforcers making the learning experience more enjoyable. The next section was titled Accelerated Learning. This section discussed how training with a clicker can cut down the time it takes to train something. It can cut months or even years off the time. The next section entitled Getting Rid of the Clicker explained how after an animal is fully educated, a simple praise or pat for an animal will work just as well for positive reinforcement. The next section (Clicker Training and Creativity), gave examples about how clicker training was more positive to an animal than scolding it. In the games she discusses, she talks about how the creativity in an animal is exposed for different behaviors, and the animal will feel more confident in trying new things. Freedom from Fear also coincides with the previous section. It talks about how animals feel more confident to explore their creativity without the thought of being punished for a wrong action.
The section that discussed clicker training on humans was amazing. I like the story of the twin daughters and their bed time experience. I know I had that problem, and I know my brother still acts up sometimes. It was fun to see how it related to the real world in that aspect. The mother of this story also said she found it more effective to click very occasionally, but with bigger reinforcers.
The text does a comparison between clicker training, and the hot and cold game. They are searching for the right behavior (hot) to get the click. Another main topic of the text was about the idea of extinction. Extinction can occur if there is a loss of interest in the clicker. I think it could possibly have something to do with the salience of the clicker. A trainer may be using it too much. I believe operant variability ties in with this passage quite nicely. The book defines operant variability stating, “Operant behavior becomes increasingly more variable as extinction proceeds. From an evolutionary view, it makes sense to try different ways of acting when something no longer works. That is, behavioral variation increases the chances that the organism will reinstate reinforcement or contact other sources of reinforcement.” When an animal is being clicker trained, many variations of behaviors will be exhibited. This is due to the lack of fear for a wrong answer, and as Pryor puts it, the animal is happier to participate. Extinction bursts show variations in responses to get the wanted reward.
This information has been repeatedly taught to me for awhile now. I understand the concepts. I have been using these terms quite often, making them more of a part of my vocabulary. I believe I will remember almost everything I read about in these sections.
Terminology: Learn, clicker training, trained, positive reinforcers, behaviors, punished, extinction, salience, operant variability, behavioral variation, extinction bursts,
Karen Pryor’s final chapter discusses clicker training and the craze that it has become throughout the last 20 years. People have gone from using punishment and coercion to using the clicker and positive reinforcement. Websites have been developed to express new tricks that can be taught to animals and to show the fabulous results that clicker training has brought about. Pryor then goes on to discuss the advantages that clicker training animals has been shown to have among both animals and humans. First of all, clicker training allows for long-term recall. The example Pryor used was of a cat that was trained to play the piano. Though the training was only for one night and the animal was never asked to perform again, two years later the cat played the piano as a means of receiving a certain type of reinforcement form the humans. Clicker training has also been shown to accelerate learning of behaviors. What once took dog trainers years to accomplish, they are now accomplishing in a few short weeks. The animals also seem to enjoy the training much more and become excited when the trainer pulls out the clicker. When learning about clicker training, many people seem to think that the clicker will forever be a necessary part to getting the animal to perform a behavior. Pryor proved this idea to be false. In fact, once the animal is trained, they no longer need the clicker to perform a behavior; rather, simple hand gestures or signals often work. When wanted to train a new behavior years down the road, bring the clicker back out and it will continue to be effective. Another advantage of clicker training is the creativity it brings about it animals. The animals being to feel that hearing the “click” is a positive reinforcement. They will often become creative, performing new and unique tricks, in hopes of hearing that click and knowing that they satisfied the trainer. In one example, a horse played around with its own ear movements until it heard the “click”. As Pryor said, she saw the horse perform movements with its ears that she didn’t even know were possible.
Overall, clicker training has been found to be highly effective when training behavior and it has also been found to create stronger relationships between the trainer and trainee. Many animals and children have found clicker training to be fun and enjoyable. Kids ask to “play the clicker game” and animals jump around in excitement when they see the clicker. Clicker training has been used around the world on both humans and animals and has allowed us to train behaviors we never thought to be possible before. It takes the fear out of training and incorporates enjoyment instead.
Though the book does not give a great emphasis on clicker-training, it does mention it. Karen Pryor and her book Don’t Shoot the Dog are mentioned and her methods of using the clicker to train animals is discussed. The book describes how Pryor uses clicker training to teach an animal to perform a behavior step-by-step. When the animal performs an act that may lead to the desired behavior it receives a click. The clicks quickly move the animal to the desired behavior until it is mastered. The book tells of how clicker training has been used by many zoo animal keepers and has been found to be highly effective in training behavior.
Overall, I found this chapter to be very interesting. Pryor used many examples to express how effective clicker training can be and included how even humans can be trained through clicker training. I believe her examples relating to children and how their behaviors have been modified using the clicker are what will stick with me the most. We often criticize training children the way you would train a dog but, as Pryor described to us, clicker training can be highly effective and uses positive reinforcement instead of punishment which is more beneficial to the child.
Terminology: behavior training, positive reinforcement, punishment, clicker-training, accelerated learning
1) The last chapter in the book is about clicker training and how it took off mostly via the internet. Pryor talks about long term recall and how even after you take the clicker away an animal can still remember the behavior and how it works. Most people think that once you start training with the clikcer then you always have to train with it but that just isn't true. An animal can be trained with the clicker for a week or two and if it is accompanied with a hand gesture or a command the animal will be able to perform the action using only the hand gesture or the command and without the clicker. The book uses an example of a cat that was trained to play the piano. The cat was only trained for one evening and then was not asked to perform the behavior again for two years. However, after this period of two years the cat recalled the piano playing behavior without difficulty. Clicker training can also inspire creativity in animals. Animals will often try new creative behaviors after they begin to see the clicker as reinforcement because they will be craving the reinforcement and wanting to hear the click and they know that if they create something the trainer will like then they will hear the click. It also creates a strong relationship between the trainer and the trainee. The horse was the example that Pryor used to show that animals become creative. She got the horse to do things with its ears that she didn't even know horses could do. Pryor also makes a point that clicker training helps to accelerate learning and something that can take months can now be translated into a few short weeks. She also talks about using clicker training in humans especially children can be very effecting. She uses and example of twins at bed time.
2) The test doesn't have a lot to say about clicker training the little that it does say Karen Pryor and her book Don't Shoot the Dog are mentioned. It also talks about cliker training being a "hot and cold game" saying that Hot= and click and Cold= no click. The book also talks about extinction and skinners theory that conditioning can occur before extinction. I was surprised that there wasn't more relating information to clicker training in the text.
3)I will remember long term recall and extinction because we have talked a lot about extinction already and I will remember clicker training as it has been one of my favorite parts of this whole book. It was a relatively new concept for me and I find it really interesting.
4)Longer ter recall, extinction, conditioning, accelerated learning, clicker training, reinforcement
The final chapter in the book discusses clicker training and how its advancement over the years. It was a very interesting chapter to read. Pryor did a good job of using examples seen in everyday life. I didn’t realize that clicker training was first suggested by Skinner in the 1960’s but became more popular in the 1990’s. With the advancement of technology came the advancement of clicker training. People began sharing ideas and theories for clicker training through websites and blogs. Pryor described this technology as “a new application of an existing science.” This method of training had finally caught on.
Pryor pointed out several interesting facts on clicker training. For starters, animals that clicker trained became playful, intelligent, curious, and interested in you. Once a behavior is learned, it is not forgotten. To describe this long-term recall, she used an example of a cat she taught to play the piano. Two years later, without being asked, the cat played the piano again. Animals also learn at a much more accelerated rate using clicker training as opposed to conventional training. Behaviors that had previously been shaped in weeks/months/years were now being shaped in minutes using the clicker.
People often think that they will need to use the clicker followed by a reward the entire length of the animal’s life. This is not the case. The click is for training purposes only. And again, in this chapter Pryor stresses the importance of avoiding punishment as a learning tool. Training using punishment often causes the animal stress and fear and an unwillingness to want to learn. Clicker training, on the other hand, is fun for both the trainer and learner.
The textbook refers to Karen Pryor in a small section on clicker training. The authors used the example of the “hot and cold game.” In this game, someone has to guess what you are thinking of and you can only tell them ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ depending on how close their guess is. This is similar to clicker training. If an animal receives a click, that means ‘hot.’ If the animal doesn’t receive a click, this means ‘cold.’ This is a good comparison. If you are unfamiliar with clicker training then you have probably heard of the hot and cold game. The text also introduced me to the new response method for studying conditioned reinforcement. First, a nonreinforcing stimulus is associated with a reinforcing event, and after this procedure the stimulus is shown to increase the frequency of the operant behavior. With clicker training, a click is followed by a reward, and then the click then increases the frequency of the behavior you wish to shape. Pierce and Cheney believe that this method results in short-lived effects because of extinction. A click given without a reward will result in the click pretty much being meaningless. I thought this was interesting because Pryor stresses in her book that clicker training is effective without constantly needing to provide food or some type of reward. Skinner also found through research with pigeons and rats that experience with conditioned reinforcement in everyday life can support a lot of behavior without noticeable extinction.
I think I’ll remember most about long-term recall with clicker training. I was so surprised by it that I won’t forget it. The example of the cat and the piano she gave was awesome. I probably won’t remember much from the clicker training for people section… It was interesting and I understand that this same method could work on people but I don’t think it is very practical. I don’t think I’ll ever try to shape a behavior with my children or anything by using clicker training. With my pets on the other hand, I most definitely will.
Long-term recall, shaping, punishment, conditioned reinforcement, stimulus, new response method, operant behavior, extinction.
1) Pryor's last chapter in the reader discusses clicker training and how it took off mostly through the internet.
Pryor discusses six main benefits of clicker training. (she used very good examples of each as well)
1.Long term recall: Animals that are trained using this method seem to retain what they learn quicker and for longer periods of time. One of the examples Pryor gave for this benefit was of a cat that she had taught to play the piano. She used the word 'good' and small pieces of food at the same time. Pryor had taught the cat to play, but shortly after the cat no longer expressed the behavior (even knowing there was a reinforcement). Then on a random night, the cat was not happy, so it offered piano playing in hopes of getting reinforced. You would think this is spontaneous recovery, but it may have remembered from before.
2.Accelerated learning: Clicker training catches on fast in species. You can train almost anything in hours, rather than months or years. According to Pryor, his benefit may be because of good timing from the trainers (such as understanding how to increase the training procedures in steps).
3.Ability to lose the clicker: I personally believed at first that once you started using the clicker, you would need to keep using it. Then I learned that the clicker can be replaced by an alternative of praise (ie: as a nod to a human or animal or petting the animal/a pat on the back).
4.Boosts creativity: Clicker training allows animals and humans to explore their opportunities and behaviors to receive that praise. I liked the example she gave which was 101 Things to do With a Box game. An animal is put with a box and is allowed to do any behavior or action it want to do with it. When the animal does something the trainer likes or seems fun to him/her, the animal gets a click from the clicker. I would totally do this with my cats, but I have 9 of them, so I would probably be reinforcing the wrong behaviors with some of them, which would not be good.
5.Freedom from fear: There is no punishment involved when clicker training is performed right. The animal is free to explore with new behaviors and actions without expecting a form of punishment from the trainer. This takes stress from both the trainer and animal.
6) Clicker training can be beneficial to humans too (not just animals). Pryor gives an example of a woman and her twin kids. She has always had a difficult time getting them to go to bed at a certain time, so she decided to use clicker training. She used pennies as reinforcers to get them asleep at a certain time. They would get a click and a penny for each step of the process they completed. As she went through these steps, she had to reinforce the kids less often. When she accomplished this behavior, they ended up getting to bed an hr and a half sooner than before she started the clicker training.
2) The textbook briefly talks about clicker training. An example of clicker training in the text was the “hot and cold game.” This starts by someone that has to guess what you are thinking of (say an apple) and you can only tell them ‘hot’ if they are getting closer to the object or ‘cold’ if they are far off from the object. This relates to clicker training that Pryor discussed. If an animal/human receives a click, It means they either did something right, or they are close to getting it right on. If the animal doesn’t receive a click, this means they are 'cold' and far from the correct behavior wanted by the trainer. I found it interesting and true how the book talks of how clicker training has and can be used by zoo animal keepers and is highly effective in training behavior(s).
3) It wasn't something new to learn what Pryor discussed in the text. It was still interesting to know the benefits of clicker training. This really makes me want to try this on my cats at home, but I am still not sure how to accomplish that with many around at a time. It is hard to get one alone without another tagging along. I wish they would have talked more in the text about zoo training with animals. It probably wouldn't contain a lot of new information, but it would be interesting to know what behaviors they trained the animals in the zoo (whether it was for the animals own benefit, or a safety benefit to zoo visitors/tourists).
4) Long term recall, conditioning, accelerated learning, clicker training, reinforcement, punishment, stimulus, spontaneous recovery
The final chapter of the Prior book addresses clicker training. A history of the method was given starting with the skinner who first suggested clicker training. Beyond Skinner, clicker training mainly was maintained in dolphin/sea life training. Prior believes that clicker training started to spread in may of 1982 during conventions. Other than the conventions, word of mouth helped spread the success of clicker training to K-9 training and self training. When the digital age happened the internet helped provide evidence by having a record of experiences people had with clicker training. The benefits of clicker training were then discussed after the history lesson was concluded and the first benefit was long term side effects. Long term recall refers to the lack of fading resulting from clicker training. This means that the information was recalled quicker and was remembered longer using clicker training. Another benefit (often a misconception) is that once the behavior is learned , you no longer have to use the clicker and are able to communicate specific information. The text touches on clicker training and actually mentions Prior and Don’t shoot the dog. The text compares clicker training to a game of hot and cold. I expected the book to not have much information on clicker training and was excited to see that our reader was mentioned in the book. I do not think that I will forget clicker training because I gave the book to my dad and he is now in the process of training his 3 dogs at the house. I get weekly updates to how it is working and what he has accomplished. Overall my dad says he can get the dogs to do almost anything he wants and thanks me for relaying the information to him.
In the last chapter of her book, Don’t Shoot the Dog, Prior states that clicker training is a “new application of an existing science” and a way for untrained people to implement behavior analysis by using positive reinforcement. The science of positive reinforcement is backed up by studies in Pierce and Cheney. However, in some cases not all of Prior’s examples necessarily support her claims. For example, citing the cat playing the piano as an example of long-term recall lacks the research the textbook authors would require. There are a lot of other possible interpretations for the behavior; it is not so unique considering the cat’s curious nature. None the less, her examples do an excellent job at teaching the reader about the principles of psychology without getting bogged down with hard to ready scientific studies.
One of the benefits of clicker training Pryor cites is accelerated learning. She claims that some clicker trainers may accomplish behavior changes in days compared to months or years using conventional training. However, she does not have any scientific studies to back up these claims. She does state, though, that she would like to see scientific data regarding her claim that the behavior is taught much faster with clicker training than with conventional methods. Reading about the examples of fast learning is more convincing to me, rather than simply stating this claim without research.
Another benefit of clicker training that Pryor cites is that it stimulates experimentation or creativity in the animal. She uses an example of dogs being creative with boxes. The dog is at worst going to not get a click, and at best, get one. It does not have the fear of being punished so is more open to experiment. Pierce and Cheney describe other studies on rewards increasing novel performance, interest, enjoyment, and creativity citing the research by Eisenberger and Cameron. Their studies were not on “clicker training” itself, but viewing the clicker and positive reinforcement as a reward, this study supports her science.
Pryor notes that the absence of punishment is essential to clicker training. Pryor states that some trainers misuse the clicker by implementing her principles, but then going on to punish the animal for mistakes. She does not agree with finding the happy medium of praising the good and punishing the bad. Pierce and Cheney agree with Prior in not using punishment as a learning tool because it is not effective. Along with Prior, Pierce and Cheney make the important point that punishment does not condition or teach new behavior.
Regarding the learning and fun benefit claim, Pryor states that the behavior of learning changes with positive reinforcement. She uses the example of “good soldiers,” where one is punished or correction trained and just does what they are told. Pierce and Cheney also discuss how individuals follow orders because they have been punished for disobedience. They illustrate the consequences of this type of training using research by Amnesty International on torture of political prisoners. In that case the guards and police obeyed authority and did not question it even to the point of engaging in torture. Peirce and Cheney discuss a famous study by Milgram in which the participants delivered shocks to a man who appeared to be in distress, again showing that individuals have a strong tendency to obey orders. These studies were not on Pryor’s training, but they and many others support her claims on the consequences of punishment.
Pryor’s training method is based on sound conditioning and learning principles. The clicker is a catchy way to teach using any stimulus as a marker to teach using positive reinforcement. Comparing the studies in Pierce and Cheney to Pryor’s claims, there are differences in the way the different authors discuss the topic. However, the techniques discussed in Pryor’s book are based on sound scientific principles.
Terms: behavior analysis, positive reinforcement, punishment, reward
In chapter 6 of Don't Shoot the Dog Pryor talks about clicker training. Clicker training works by the trainee exhibits a behavior, and for this behavior they either receive a click or they don't. If they do receive a click, they know they did the right behavior. If they do not receive a click, they try again until they exhibit the right behavior.
There are many benefits to clicker training including it is very fast, it works across species, it promotes creativity. It promotes creativity because instead of the trainer showing or forcing the animal to do a certain task, they have to think of it on their own.
I really liked the idea that the trainer doesn't have to use punishment, rather they wait for a good or the desired behavior then they reinforce. Nobody likes to be punished for making a mistake, with clicker training you don't get punished, you just don't get reinforced till you get it right. I can see Pryor's point that punishment only causes fear. When you make a mistake, it lowers your self-confidence, and you are more likely to make another mistake. But with clicker training, you would not have the lowered self-esteem because it is not seen a mistake, rather just another chance to get it right.
I thought that her work with children with autism is very interesting. Children with autism are in their own little world, and often don't respond to spoken language, nor do they understand social cues. So to reinforce the child with a smile, or saying good job wouldn't work. Clicker training is a way for the person working with them reinforce them in a nonverbal manner, that they understand.
The text didn't really talk about clicker training that much. They talked about it in comparison to the hot and cold game. In this game hot would be the equivalent of a click, and cold would be the equivalent of no click.
Terms: clicker training, punishment, reinforcement,