With all of us at home spending much more time with our families and pets we might be experiencing some communication issues. To help, I thought I would explain what an event marker is and how we can use them to improve our relationships as we spend more time with each other.
An event marker, or a bridge, is an amazing tool that can be used with any animal (including small fish!). It has also been found to be an effective training tool for gymnasts, autistic children, and now surgeons (read the article here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/positive-reinforcement-helps-surgeons-learn/)! So, what exactly is this tool and how does it work? What makes it so effective when training both animals and humans? How can you use it in your daily life?
What is an Event Marker?
When training using positive reinforcement, an event marker is something that connects the behavior to the reward. This connection is also why the event marker is often called a “bridge.” It bridges the gap between the behavior and the reward that follows that behavior. So why is this so important for behavior training?
Training Behavior with an Event Marker
When you have the behavior and you have the reward, how do you make sure that the learner knows that the behavior they performed is actually what they are getting the reward for? Imagine you ask your dog to sit. They sit and you respond by reaching for a treat. However, your dog stands up with excitement just before you give them that treat. How do you know the dog did not just learn that when they hear “sit,” it means “sit and then stand up,” or even just “stand?” Some dogs will even be so confused that they simply leave half way through a training session because the trainer won’t give them the reward until they perform the behavior, but the dog can’t figure out what they are getting the reward for, so they don’t know what behavior to repeat! I am sure us humans have also experienced moments like this when we don’t understand someone, and we simply get frustrated with how they explain themselves. An event marker helps eliminate this confusion by clearly identifying the behavior that is being rewarded.
How can Event Markers be Used in Daily Life?
The concept of event markers can be a great tool to use, not only with our pets, but with our employees, children, and spouses! To understand how to use event markers and rewards with people, we must remember to be respectful of the other individual. For example, a marker can be something as simple as saying “thank you!” This is something that should already be part of our communication strategy with others. If you want your spouse to do something differently (such as putting dirty clothes in the hamper instead of on the floor) marking that behavior with a “thank you” and rewarding it with a kiss (if that is something your spouse finds reinforcing) should simply become part of common courtesy between you and your spouse when he or she has done something you like. Using event markers is a great habit to get into in any relationship and can help you and your family members communicate and feel valued by each other.
One more thing to keep in mind about using markers and rewards with people is that, unlike with animals, we can explain things to people. If your spouse, child, or friend does something you dislike, explain that to them calmly and courteously. Follow up this explanation with another short explanation of what you would like them to do and be willing to mark and reward the moments when they do as you have asked.
Closing Thoughts
When we go into any situation where we want behavior in someone else to change, we need to remember that behavior training is often rooted in a desire to promote a strong relationship. For example, if our dogs don’t sit when we ask them to do so, this causes frustration and we feel like our pets are ignoring us, creating tension between us and our dogs. This puts a rift in the relationship with the dog. That same goes for people. If people do not respond to each other in a way they each find acceptable, then the relationship can become strained. To help heal these moments of tension, using markers and rewards should become a way of life. It should be common courtesy to communicate to the other person or animal that they have done something we like and we should be willing to give them something for it (keep in mind that often times with people the marker itself becomes reinforcing so there might not be a need to give them another reward). This does not mean that we cannot tell our child to stop doing something or explain to our loved ones that we don’t like something. But the process should be grounded in the search for opportunities to communicate and reinforce good behavior. We should be looking for opportunities to say “Thank you” to those around us.
So, as we use event markers and rewards with both our pets and other people, remember that it is about developing relationships and being a positive influence in the lives of others. We need to show others that we see them when they do something the way we would like them to and remember to say, “thank you.”
Thank you for reading this blog post and supporting Happy Animalz Training Service! And I wish you all a wonderful day!
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