A Nun For All Quadrants
Sister Regis was not a clicker trainer. Her brand of Sisterly Order did not include clickers in the education and training of her grade school students. Today, clicker training is an extremely popular method in the “Positive Reinforcement” camp of dog trainers. Not all clicker training is historically positive, but that is for another time. Today, there is still a big buzz about training with the “scientific method.” “Positive Trainers” and “Balanced Trainers,” especially, may speak of “Four Quadrants.” “Clicker Trainers” and “Positive Trainers” draw deeply from the First Quadrant. “Balanced Trainers” will tout their use of the Second and Third Quadrants as well as the First. What does all this jargon mean? When civilians hear talk of the Quadrants their eyes are quick to glaze over. But this “science based training” applies not only to rats and pigeons in a laboratory. All creatures are subject to the laws of “scientific training.” This includes husbands as well as dogs. Also included were we gangly human critters in Sister Regis’s seventh grade class. Sister Regis did not use a clicker. Her training tool of choice was a ruler.
When training dogs, “Positive Reinforcement Trainers,” “Balanced Trainers” and “Traditional Trainers” all make use of Operant Conditioning. Published in 1938 and building upon the work of his predecessors, B.F. Skinner’s Behavior Of Organisms (1), has had an enormous impact on animal training. The mechanism of Operant Conditioning is based on adding something or taking something away to increase or decrease behaviors. Here, the vocabulary can get a bit muddled as positive means to add something and negative means to take something away, as consequences for a behavior. There is no good or bad to it. Reinforcement increases behavior and Punishment decreases behavior. There are four Quadrants described in operant Conditioning (2). When teaching her students in seventh grade, Sister Regis made good use of all four quadrants.
The First Quadrant is R+ is Positive Reinforcement. Sister Regis praising a student for good school work (adding something), was likely to increase the behavior of studying. If Sister Regis gave a good grade (adding something), that letter A also motivated an increase in the behavior of studying. Giving a dog a treat (adding something), after your dog sits will make her more likely to increase the behavior of sitting. Petting a dog (adding something) who is jumping will increase the behavior of jumping. Beware of what you reward!
The Second Quadrant is Positive Punishment, P+. Sister Regis delivered a painful smack with her ruler (adding something) to reduce (decrease) the likelihood of the behavior of hooliganism in class. This blow was always preceded by the dreaded censure, “You’re Bold As Brass,” delivered in a thick Irish brogue. Applying a sharp leash jerk (adding something) to a dog pulling on the leash may reduce the behavior of the dog pulling. A shock will reduce the behavior of a dog chasing a chicken. The somethings added are only Punishers if the behavior is decreased. The blow of the ruler always worked to end mischief. . A leash correction must decrease the pulling to be a Punishment. A shock collar will generally end the chasing of that chicken.
The Third Quadrant, R-, is Negative Reinforcement. This is avoidance training. The blow from Sister Regis’s ruler not happening (something taken away), greatly increased the likelihood of straight A’s on my seventh grade report card in Conforms To School Regulations (increase in conforming behavior). If the “stimulation” of a shock collar doesn’t happen (something taken away) the dog has learned to avoid the shock, increasing the probability of the dog’s behavior of coming when called. If a dog learns to grab a dumbbell before his ear is pinched (taking away the pinch), the behavior of retrieving the dumbbell increases.
The Fourth Quadrant, P-, is Negative Punishment. If all else failed, and it was rare, Sister Regis sent a miscreant to the office. The ill behaved student, as well as his behavior were both removed in a ‘timeout,” of sorts. Sister Cornelius, the principal, would then discipline the ne’er do well, sometimes contacting parents. Ignoring, turning your back to, or removing a dog from polite society, will decrease the behavior of jumping. (Maybe, or at least while the dog is banished). If you pay a fine (taking away money) for driving 50 mph in a 35 zone the behavior of speeding will be decreased. (Sometimes, for a while, for some people). This is a tricky Quadrant. It is not a Punishment if a dog continues his jumping or if a person continues his speeding behavior. It is not a punishment if a person hollers “Noooo!, two hundred times at a dog and the unwanted behavior persists. If parents were called by Sister Cornelius, the misbehavior was not repeated.
So it was that Sister Regis made astute use of Operant Conditioning. She deftly navigated from Quadrant to Quadrant as she saw the need. She wielded her training tool with authority but she was not dependent on its use. She became one of my favorite all time teachers, once I understood that her praise and the capital letter A were worth striving for (Learned or Conditioned Reinforcers). (3). Sister Regis was a Nun for All Quadrants as she handily “rulered” her roost in that seventh grade classroom.
(1). B. F. Skinner - Wikipedia
(2). A Quadrant by Any Other Name is Still a Cornerstone of Operant Learning - eileenanddogs