Equiosity

This is Part 3 of a part conversation in which the topics were inspired by the discussions in my on-line clinics. In this episode we return to a subject we have explored before - reinforcement strategies. We talk about management solutions when training is not yet in place. And then a big topic: what does "feed for position" mean? This is a big topic because it takes us straight into our ability to influence a horse's balance. We also talk about the conversation that emerges between handler and learner when “No” becomes an acceptable answer.

We begin this episode by talking about lots of ideas for activities you can work on during mud season. When space is restricted, you can still move forward in your training. In fact, sometimes those restrictions actually work to your advantage.

We move from mud season to “Happy Faces”. When you’re trying to interpret what a horse’s ears are telling you, context matters. In this episode we share several stories that highlight why “Happy Faces” is a foundation lesson.

This is Part 1 of a three part conversation. Dominique is once again choosing topics from my on-line clinics. We begin with a question from an individual is doing a wonderful job with her very tall horse. A year ago he was scaring her by rearing and striking out. Now they are a fun team to watch. I love how soft his expression has become. Grown-ups and head lowering have played an important role in creating this change. She was asking about what she should do when her horse offered head lowering at times when she wasn’t intentionally cueing it.

We explore this question by talking about building duration, inadvertent chains, and the meaning of the phrase - walking off casually.

Lucy Butler is a special education teacher in a high school. In the 2021-2022 school year Lucy was given the task of working with all the students who were repeating their freshmen year of high school. Lucy has been a guest on our podcast several times before. She’s been sharing her classroom experiences with us. This year Lucy has another cohort of freshman class repeaters and she’s also co-teaching math classes. During the Christmas break she gave us a progress report.

In Part 1 she described how she used thin slicing, loopy training and the constructional design principles to help her students succeed in math class.

She is looking at the basics of how new skills are taught. This is universal. Whether you are working with human students or horses, teaching skills using a mastery-based structure leads to successful learners.

We begin Part 2 of our conversation with Lucy by asking her if she could design a school what would she create. Lucy’s thoughtful answer provides a blueprint for meaningful - and doable change that is as relevant for the teaching we do with our horses as it is for schools.

Lucy Butler is a special education teacher in a high school. In the 2021-2022 school year Lucy was given the task of working with all the students who were repeating their freshmen year of high school. Lucy has been a guest on our podcast several times before. She’s been sharing her classroom experiences with us. This year Lucy has another cohort of freshman class repeaters and she’s also co-teaching math classes. During the Christmas break she gave us a progress report.

In the math class she has opportunities to work with all the students, not just the ones are struggling with math. She describes how she uses thin slicing, loopy training and the constructional design principles to help all the students succeed in math class.

She is looking at the basics of how new skills are taught. This is universal. Whether you are working with human students or horses, teaching skills using a mastery-based structure leads to successful learners.

In this episode we talk about how to teach and also how to spread ideas to create system-wide change.

In Part 3 of our conversation with Dr Joe Layng he describes symbolic aggression in pigeons and the “prisoner’s dilemma” solution that leads to the development of cooperation between two birds. The social interactions were not trained by the experimenter. They emerged from the non-social components that the birds were taught. These studies have many implications for those of us who work with multiple learners.

Joe’s descriptions of these studies also gives us the basis for understanding non-linear contingency analysis.

This translates to an understanding that we are better off teaching the components that are part of complex behavior, rather than trying to teach the complex behavior directly.

Articles cited in this three part conversation:

THE SPONTANEOUS USE OF A TOOL BY A PIGEON

ROBERT EPSTEIN and SAMUEL D. MEDALIE

Behavior Analysis Letters, 3 (1983) 241-247

Contingency Adduction of "Symbolic Aggression" by Pigeons

Paul Thomas Andronis Northern Michigan University, T.V. Joe Layng
The New School for the Learning Sciences, and Israel Goldiamond The University of Chicago

The Verbal Analysis of Behavior. 1997, 14 5-17

Spontaneous cooperation between pigeons: S o c i a l behavior selected by ontogenic consequences in the Prisoner's Dilemma

P. T. Andronis

ON PIGEONS AND PEOPLE: A PRELIMINARY LOOK AT THE COLUMBAN SIMULATION PROJECT

Robert Epstein

The Behavior Analyst 1981,4, 43-55 No. 1 (Spring)

The Role of Contingency Adduction in the Creative Act

Nolan Williams

The Psychological Record

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00440-z

I am delighted that we are starting out the New Year with a conversation with Dr Joe Layng. Dr Layng is a behavior analyst who has over 40 years' experience in the experimental and applied analysis of behavior, with a particular focus on the design of teaching/learning environments.

In Part 1 of our conversation Joe defined contingency adduction and shared several fascinating experiments that were done with pigeons. Pigeons showed self awareness by passing the mirror test. They demonstrated tool use and they left themselves notes so they would know which color key to peck after a long delay. These experiments show that it is not a genetically based cognitive ability that determines whether or not an individual can solve a particular puzzle, but the component skills that are in repertoire. This is true for pigeons, people and horses.

In Part two Joe describes a series of experiments showing how the manipulation of schedules of reinforcement changes social behavior. In a very clever series of experiments Dr Paul Andronis demonstrated that pigeons showed perspective taking, theory of mind and symbolic aggression.

These studies take us to a whole new appreciation of what animals are capable of. As you listen to this episode, if you’re wondering how all these experiments with pigeons relate to horses, that’s one of the big ones.

I am delighted that we are starting out the New Year with a conversation with Dr Joe Layng. Dr Layng is a behavior analyst who has over 40 years' experience in the experimental and applied analysis of behavior, with a particular focus on the design of teaching/learning environments.

In Part 1 of our conversation Joe starts out by defining what contingency adduction is. He uses several studies that were done with pigeons to help us understand this concept, beginning with a study using the mirror test to show that it’s not just humans who are self-aware. Pigeons are, as well.

In another study adduction was used to demonstrate tool use in pigeons. These experiments show that it is not a genetically based cognitive ability that determines whether or not an individual can solve a particular puzzle, but the component skills that are in repertoire. This is true for pigeons, people and horses.

In this episode we are going to be talking primarily about pigeons. So if you are wanting to hear how to teach your horse to pick up his feet for cleaning, this particular episode won’t satisfy that need. But if you want to be a better teacher for your horse, then this episode is very relevant.

Joe is taking us to a whole new level of appreciation of what animals are capable of. As you listen to this episode, if you’re wondering how all these experiments with pigeons relate to horses, that’s one of the big ones.

Articles cited in this episode:

THE SPONTANEOUS USE OF A TOOL BY A PIGEON

ROBERT EPSTEIN and SAMUEL D. MEDALIE

Behavior Analysis Letters, 3 (1983) 241-247

Contingency Adduction of "Symbolic Aggression" by Pigeons

Paul Thomas Andronis Northern Michigan University, T.V. Joe Layng
The New School for the Learning Sciences, and Israel Goldiamond The University of Chicago

The Verbal Analysis of Behavior. 1997, 14 5-17

Spontaneous cooperation between pigeons: S o c i a l behavior selected by ontogenic consequences in the Prisoner's Dilemma

P. T. Andronis

ON PIGEONS AND PEOPLE: A PRELIMINARY LOOK AT THE COLUMBAN SIMULATION PROJECT

Robert Epstein

The Behavior Analyst 1981,4, 43-55 No. 1 (Spring)

The Role of Contingency Adduction in the Creative Act

Nolan Williams

The Psychological Record

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00440-z

This is the second half of a conversation Dominique and I had recently that was centered topics that emerged during a recent live coaching session that’s part of my on-line clinics. Last week we talked about how you can use the food delivery process to increase your awareness of your horse’s balance. That awareness then leads to subtle suggestions that kindly, gently help your horse to release tension and find his own functional good balance.

In this episode we talk about feedback.

So many of us who ride have experienced lessons where the instructor is yelling. Even when you do something right, what you take away from the lesson is the yelling and the criticism. The ride was all about avoiding criticism. This shouldn’t be the gauntlet you have to pass through in order to learn how to ride. We treat our horses with kindness. We should want to treat each other with kindness as well. So how does this relate to feedback? In this episode we talk instruction and feedback - how to be kind and effective.

This week begins a two part conversation with Dominique. Dominique is asking about topics that emerged during a recent live coaching session that’s part of my on-line clinics. She was struck by a comment I made about using the food delivery to feel in your hand how a horse is balanced. This was an idea that was new to her. She was very aware of how you can use the food delivery to monitor a horse’s emotional behavior, but she wasn’t tuning into using the food delivery to evaluate a horse’s physical balance.

We talk about how this works, how you can develop your own awareness of balance, and then how you can use the food delivery to influence a horse’s balance. In a very subtle and clever way we can offer a suggestion. While the horse is taking his treat, he will respond to that suggestion by releasing tension in his poll, and shifting his balance. Think of this as a very subtle body work session that can profoundly and yet so very gently alter how a horse is using his spine.

This tactile awareness is a great preparation for riding. You’re learning to tune into the the same kind of finessed feel that you look for when you are communicating via a lead or rein.