Reinforcement Quick Reference

In which I share a quick reference for the steps in communicating with positive and negative reinforcement.

Good communication skills are crucial to building a solid relationship. We can have all the empathy in the world and the most detailed, solid vision for where you want to to, but without the ability to communicate quickly, effectively, and clearly, we are just spinning our wheels.

Most information about communication is squishy at best. It's based solely on anecdote and experience. Don't get me wrong, experience is a wonderful thing and understanding and sharing our experiences is an important part of learning. However, sometimes the fundamental workings of a situation aren't obvious because of personal nature of our experience.

The most useful tool I've found for improving my communication skills is the science of behavior and reinforcement. In fact, I wrote recently how this science fits into my horsemanship practice.

Essentially, the science of behavior and reinforcement gives us theories for understanding how our behaviors effect the likelihood of the behaviors of others: how what we do changes what others do. I find this science to be so helpful for communication because the essential goal of communication is to effect change in another.

One of my big goals for the next year is to introduce as many people as possible to this science and to help them get excited about how understanding it can help them to create more delight with their horses. To that end, I will be releasing the first major Equuality publication in over a year, a multimedia introduction to understanding and using the science of behavior with horses.

As I put the finishing touches on this guide, I will be releasing as series of one page quick reference sheets that give an overview of various related topics. I hope these guides will not only be interesting and fun to look at, but also provide real information and spark an excitement in learning more.

So, without further ado, here is the first in the Equuality Quick Reference series: Communicating with Reinforcement Theory. Click on one of the links below to download either the pdf or jpg version.

reinforcement_quick_reference.pdf 1.7M

reinforcement_quick_reference.jpg 750k

I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. -Marie Curie

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