If you have ever sat down and observed a herd of horses, you probably noticed that they move each other around; a more dominant horse will pin its ears at a more submissive horse, which results in the submissive horse moving away. This is an example of what is frequently referred to as “pressure.” Pressure between horses can be as obvious as a kick or a bite, but it can also be practically imperceptible: the twitch of a tail, or a small step in the direction of another horse.
Pressure is a common technique for horse training, because this is how horses naturally interact. But pressure has another name: Negative Reinforcement. Sounds bad, right? Not so fast! It’s a common misconception to believe that negative reinforcement is, well… Negative. We are going to do a little myth-busting around the term negative reinforcement, but first: a brief psychology lesson.
Negative reinforcement is one of four components of operant conditioning. Operant conditioning theorizes that the consequences of a behavior will determine if the behavior is performed again. It’s important to know that this theory of behavior does not use the words “positive” and “negative” to mean “good” and “bad.” Rather, the words are used in a more mathematical sense: “positive” refers to the addition of a stimulus, and “negative” refers to the removal of a stimulus. The word “reinforcement” refers to the goal of increasing a behavior, while “punishment” refers to the goal of decreasing a behavior.
And, if that lecture put you to sleep, here is the short definition of negative reinforcement: Negative reinforcement describes the removal of a stimulus as the result of a behavior, with the goal of increasing that behavior.
People often hear the term “negative reinforcement” and assume that it involves undue harshness. This is the misconception that we want to address: negative reinforcement is not necessarily a bad thing, and you are almost certainly using it every day without even knowing it!
Take, for example, leading a horse with a halter and rope. If the horse does not step forward with you, the rope becomes taut and puts pressure on the horse’s head. The horse is able to relieve this pressure by stepping forward to create slack in the rope. This is a clear-cut example of negative reinforcement. The pressure from the tension in the rope is the aversive stimulus, and that stimulus is removed when the horse performs the desired behavior of stepping forward. The aversive stimulus might be uncomfortable, but it is not painful. It is also completely within the horse’s control to remove that pressure. When the horse performs the desired behavior, the pressure stops. This is why releasing pressure is so important when training a horse; they learn in the release.
