Clicker Training Comments from Wendy Jeffries
I've been reading the various posts [on the
ICAT-Events Yahoo group] with great interest. The dog world went
through this discussion several years ago. Karen Pryor is at a seminar
but perhaps she will catch up and post later. I have cut and pasted comments
from several people. I'm talking to everyone and hope to correct some
typical misunderstanding about what is popularly called "Clicker Training"
<in a loud environment the noise of the clicker can be
lost;>
By the time you are working your cat in public, the clicker would not
be needed. It is for exact communication in the early learning stages.
Once a cat knows the behavior, the clicker isn't at all necessary.
<the clicker can serve as an unwanted distraction in some
instances>
Quite right. "Click" ends the behavior and the animal would expect his
treat. I wouldn't click while running the agility course. He might stop
and look for his reward.
<I'm not required to have a clicker handy when perhaps
not even my hands are handy!>
Good point. That is why we start using a word as a Conditioned Reinforcement
just like the clicker. I use "YES!" as I click. Pretty soon "Yes!" has
the same communication value as a clicker. I click with my mouth sometimes
too. Some folks have use mouth clicks completely from the beginning and
report it works just fine. Actually ANY unique event (auditory or visual)
can be your Conditioned Reinforcement. It doesn't have to be a clicker.
Years ago, you never heard of Clicker Training but professionals were
doing it. I only heard it referred to as CR (Conditioned Reinforcement)
training. The catchy term of "Clicker" unfortunately caught on and people
fixate on the mechanical clicker when it really could be anything. I
the past 35 years I have used a whistle, an electronic tone, visually
shoving food at the animal, "YES!" "GOOD" clickers, a flash light and
hand signals from big and obvious to tiny and only seen by the performer.
I've probably forgotten a few too.
<I find that by using the clicker she masters a trick faster
because she knows what I am wanting her to do but you have to provide
a command or gesture to get her do something. Personally I prefer hand
signals and think Dakota prefers them as well.>
This sounds like someone is using the clicker incorrectly. " The clicker
is not a remote control," I tell the guys in dog obedience classes. :>)
It does not tell the animal to do anything. Granted a clicker savvy student
may start trying lots of behavior when he sees one in your hand, but you
decide what behavior you are working on in that session. You start rewarding
a sit-up, for instance. When the cat figures out only sit-ups are being
rewarded he will repeat it frequently. THEN you start adding the cue,
verbal or visual, just as he is about to offer another sit-up. After
10 to 20 of those cue->behavior->Click and treat, I find cats know
the meaning of the cue.
<She was in another room when I started to use it. She came
flying into the room and jumped up next to the treat jar. Apparently
she has not forgotten what the clicker means. Of course I had to give
her a treat. Guess it is a good way of calling her next time I get laryngitis.>
If your cat's life depends on it, by all means use the clicker to call
your cat in an emergency. BUT don't get in the habit of using a clicker
to call your cats. For instance your cat is tearing up a roll of toilet
paper, so you hit the clicker to make her stop and come to you. Remember,
the cat thinks "Click" means you are saying, "PERFECT! You did the behavior
correctly and will now be rewarded." The cat will tend to repeat the
behavior of tearing up the toilet paper. Oops. Don't use the clicker
to call your cat folks. LOL
<You state that "the clicker is the fastest way to teach
something" but this is YOUR OWN view and not the result of scientific
study on the fastest way to teach cats to perform a behavior. The fastest
way--and this is for all mammals--is a conditioned response. The actual
manner this is achieved is not specific to either clicker, hand, or voice,
as long as a food reward (or something else highly desirable) is offered
for successful completion.>
I don't think this writer meant conditioned response in the scientific
meaning of Operant Conditioning. That would be like Pavlov's dog salivating
when he hears the bell. That is Classical Conditioning not Operant Conditioning...but
I don't want to bore folks with scientific mumbo jumbo.
I'd say the 'fastest way' depends on the behavior being trained. I wonder
how this writer would teach a cat to; retrieve over a jump, pick up a
dropped pen and return it to your hand, or put rings on peg. When you
get into the more advanced behaviors EVERYONE uses some sort of conditioned
reinforcement like a clicker or a certain word and then gives the reward.
Where clicker training excels is in teaching the cat to THINK. They learn
to experiment with lots of behaviors and then repeat the things that get
a click and treat. You develop a very smart, fast learner who enjoys
figuring out the puzzle of each training session. They don't just follow
a lure or food. They figure it out using their considerable brains.
That's great for cats who get bored sitting inside all day.
<Use of the clicker becomes a crutch when there is an ongoing
reliance on it in order to perform a behavior correctly, such as a cat
that will only successfully complete a learned action in the presence
of the clicking sound.>
Yes. That would be incorrect use of the clicker again. I have seen that
with professional trainers on TV. It drives me nuts. LOL They are using
the clicker as a CUE (command of come over here and do this "Click Click
Click ClicK"). The click should ONLY be heard, just as the behavior is
successfully completed. If people want to run cats in agility without
much training use the feather lure. PLEASE DON'T USE THE CLICKER. You
will mislead a lot of people about clicker training. There is so much
more to be gained for the cat if you only use it as communication saying
"PERFECT now you get the reward for that exact behavior you were doing
when you heard the click."
<My own feeling on why it might take a cat four months
to learn the "sit" command has less to do with the cat and a lot to do
with the person training it!>
WOW! Well said! Training cats is easy. It's the people who don't get
it.
LOL
Have clicker - will travel,
Wendy Jeffries
co-owner BirdClick at YahooGroups.com
Owner Cat-Clicker at YahooGroups.com