{"id":2579,"date":"2025-12-29T16:55:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clickertrainingpferde.com\/?p=2579"},"modified":"2025-12-29T16:55:49","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T15:55:49","slug":"ccs-6-the-expanding-ellipse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickertrainingpferde.com\/de\/ccs-6-the-expanding-ellipse\/","title":{"rendered":"[CCS] 6 – The expanding ellipse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi,<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, we piled through a lot of material. Today we get more practical.

Remember, we talked about two strategies to teach a new skill.

Response shaping <\/strong>und stimulus shaping or fading
<\/strong>
Don\u2019t get hung up by the terminology. I found both stimulus fading and stimulus shaping in the literature. Some authors seem to use both interchangeably, and others prefer a distinction.

I like the term \u2018shaping\u2019 for both response and stimulus because, as trainers, we understand the concept of successive approximation to build behavior.

I have also mentioned the term \u2018transferring action<\/strong>\u2019, which Mary Hunter and Jes\u00fas Rosales-Ruiz use in PORTL to describe the \u2018transfer\u2019 of an action to a different context. The example I used was transferring Blondie\u2019s holding the fetch toy in her mouth to the bitted bridle.

Whatever you want to call it, the critical piece is that we can shape either the response (action) OR the stimulus (environment). Remember to change the criterion for only one of them!

I promised you an actionable example of this \u2018errorless learning\u2019 concept. So here\u2019s the lesson:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson 3: The expanding ellipse<\/h2>\n\n\n\n


This is what you need:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • 2 mats<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • 4-6 cones<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Foundation lesson: Standing on a mat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Note:
    The foundation lesson is not a static \u2018standing on a mat.\u2019 The behavior contains the whole movement cycle: 1. going to the mat, 2. standing on the mat, 3. leaving the mat.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What\u2019s a movement cycle?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n

    A movement cycle is a repeatable unit of behavior. It specifies a starting position and a series of behavior-environment interactions that continue until the organism is back at the starting point and can begin the movement cycle again.
    ~Jes\u00fas Rosales-Ruiz<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    In other words:

    The behavior is not completed until the organism is in a position to repeat it.

    This ties back to the definition of behavior which, according to Skinner<\/strong> (1938), contains both movement<\/strong> und environment<\/strong>, e.g., pressing (action) a lever (environment).

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n

    By behavior, then, I mean simply the movement of an organism or of its parts in a frame of reference provided by the organism itself or by various external objects or fields of force. It is convenient to speak of this as the action of the organism upon the outside world, and it is often desirable to deal with an effect rather than with the movement itself, as in the case of the production of sounds.
    ~ Skinner, B. F. (2019). The behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. BF Skinner Foundation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    So interesting, but let\u2019s get back to the lesson.
    I used is the following setup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    A circle of cones with two mats<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    Blondie steps on the mat, click\/treat, and then I send her off to go around the cones to reach the next mat, click\/treat, repeat.
    This behavior is already in repertoire (starting point).

    Now I gradually move two of the cones, one at a time. For example, if the mats are at 6 and 12 o\u2019clock, I move the cones at 3 and 9 o\u2019clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    Gradually increasing the distance of the cones at opposite sides<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    As in the previous lesson, I move only one cone and move it only so much that Blondie barely notices. The base behavior of going from mat to mat around the cones is always maintained.
    As noted before, move the cones after your horse passed, not in front of its feet.

    This setup turns the cones into landmarks, and your horse learns to go around them instead of cutting the line to get to the next mat.

    It also creates the opportunity to practice turns which are great balance exercises. Blondie needs to figure out how to organise herself for the turn. If there are physical issues, she can manage them herself and I can, of course, encourage good turns with a click\/treat.

    Here\u2019s how the lesson developed with Blondie.<\/p>\n\n\n

    \n\t\n\t\t \n\n\t<\/presto-player>\n<\/figure>\t\t