On Target Training
On Target Training Foundations
in Psychology
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 On Target Training is rooted in psychology, and the principles can be found in any psychology textbook. Based on the behavior modification theories of B.F. Skinner and other prominent forefathers of psychology, the On Target Training system works on the principles of Operant Conditioning.
Operant Conditioning is the act of operating on the environment. In this case, think of your horse behaving in a certain way to affect his environment.
When your horse does something that affects his surroundings, such as raising his head up so that you cannot touch his ears, he is acting on his environment. When you don't touch his ears, he is reinforced.
Reinforcement is anything that increases the frequency of the behavior that immediately precedes it.
There are two types of reinforcement:


 
Reward Reinforcement
 A stimulus such as food that when presented has a reinforcing value.


Shawna using reward reinforcement.
Note the clicker, target, and food.
A good example of operant conditioning and reward reinforcement comes from a video we saw on television. In the video a horse backed up to a tree and kicked it with a hind leg. Next the horse searched the ground. We saw him eat something and then we realized it was an apple tree. When he finished the apple he again backed up to the tree and repeated the process. This horse had learned to operate on his environment in order to get something he wanted. He repeated the act that resulted in the reward reinforcement, in this case the apple.

 
Removal Reinforcement
 When your horse acts on his environment to stop or remove an adverse condition. The removal of these aversive stimuli serves to reinforce your horses' actions.

Most people use the removal reinforcement method when training their horse. For example, they squeeze their legs to get their horse to move forward, then let up on the pressure when the horse responds correctly. The removal of the pressure is reinforcing to the horse. The On Target Training system focuses on reward reinforcement. When used alone or used together with your training method, your results can improve dramatically.

With removal reinforcement training, the only thing in it for the horse is to avoid an aversive stimulus, something he doesn't like. The horse then tends to look for the minimal action he can perform to avoid the stimulus.

The On Target Training System
With reward reinforcement and the On Target Training system, you are setting your horse up to succeed. With the reward there's something in it for the horse, something he wants, which changes his attitude and consequently, it improves each of his interactions with you.

References

B. F. Skinner Bibliography
(courtesy of Lafayette University)

On Target Training, Shawna Karrasch
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