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| Int'l Symposium - Marker-Based Shaping ('Clicker Training') for Human Subjects: Three Ongoing Programs |
| Sunday, May 30, 2004 |
| 9:00 AM–10:20 AM |
| Hampton |
| Area: DEV; Domain: Applied Research |
| Chair: Karen W. Pryor (Sunshine Books, Inc.) |
| Discussant: Jesus Rosales-Ruiz (University of North Texas) |
| Abstract: . |
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| Training Young Athletes with Positive Reinforcement and a Click Sound as a Marker Signal |
| JOAN ORR (The Pryor Foundation), Theresa McKeon (The Pryor Foundation) |
| Abstract: In coaching child gymnasts a click was used to mark correct actions. Actions were grouped to produce complete skills. Errors receive no response. In both children with normal intelligence and Special Olympics participants the rate of skill acquisition was dramatically enhanced. Learners manifest reduced stress and anxiety and heightened enjoyment of the training process, in comparison to conventional coaching. |
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| Teaching Adult Beginners to Ice Skate |
| LYNN M. LOAR (The Pryor Foundation) |
| Abstract: A pilot program recruited 9 adults with no or virtually no prior ice skating experience to compare the effectiveness of using an acoustic marker with a verbal marker. Adults were randomly divided into two groups, one earning clicks and candy, the other verbal praise. Adults were given a brief demonstration of skating forwards, backward sculling, backward crossovers, forward crossovers and a spin. Baseline data were taken and video taped, followed by suggestions necessary for safety. Each maneuver was then broken into multiple approximations and shaped on criterion at a time and one learner at a time, with either enthusiastic praise or the acoustic marker. The group with the acoustic marker accomplished all of the tasks in less than an hour on the ice, and demonstrated greater ease and fluidity of motion in skating to and from the testing area than did the group receiving verbal acknowledgment. Additionally, a few participants who tried one and then the other method observed that the verbal marker was distracting and interfered with learning. By prompting social response (eye contact, head shift) it triggered a number of falls in one subject. |
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| Interactive Animal Assisted Therapy for Children and Families at Risk |
| BARBARA BOAT (University of Cincinnati), Lynn M. Loar (The Pryor Foundation) |
| Abstract: Awarded a three-year grant by the California Governor's Office of Criminal Justice Planning, the Strategic Humane Interventions Program (SHIP) began in Oct., 2001, in the San Francisco Bay Area. SHIP provides instruction to children and families exposed to child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, or community violence, using animal-assisted therapy to teach safety around animals and people. Families learn to use operant conditioning with an acoustic marker to shape positive behaviors in people and animals. Three to four families come for 6-week sessions in homeless shelters, elementary schools, community and social service agencies in their neighborhoods (Bay Area) or in transitional housing facilities (Cincinnati.) They learn impulse control, the ability to read social and affective cues in human and non-human animals, the ability to break a behavior down into small components and teach each step by step exclusively using positive reinforcement. SHIP is being further implemented in Cincinnati, Ohio through a collaboration with the Childhood Trust of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, the YWCA Battered Women's Shelter program, and the Cincinnati SPCA, partially funded by a grant from the Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust. |
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