building value in Secondary Reinforcers
Many people only think of using a primary reinforcer, such as food treats, when they are training behavior with an animal. However, there are many benefits to having of a variety of reinforcers that you can rely on. Secondary, or conditioned, reinforcers are stimuli, objects, or events that become reinforcing based on their association with a primary reinforcer. Secondary reinforcers have no innate biological value, so the value must be learned through experience and association.
In this video, KPA CTP Sierra Molesworth is working on building the value of toys so that they can be used as secondary reinforcers. Sierra is reinforcing the dog, Summit, with a primary reinforcer, food treats, for interacting and eventually picking up the toys that are presented. Note how Sierra keeps the item in the same location every time. If Summit tosses the item, Sierra resets its location so that there is consistency in the training and Summit does not need to go hunting for the toy. Sierra is creating a fun little training loop that is predictable and can be built on!
Learn all about using non-food reinforcement effectively in Ken Ramirez's online course Smart Reinforcement!
THINK OUTSIDE OF THE TREAT POUCH
Ken Ramirez shows you how to use non-food reinforcers effectively in the step-by-step online course, Smart Reinforcement.
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