Magazine training

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Magazine Training (ger .: magazine training) describes a specific learning phase in the operant conditioning .

The term magazine comes from the feed magazine in which the feed is presented as an amplifier in a Skinner box or operant chamber . The organism learns an association between a certain (usually acoustic) stimulus and the amplifier through classical conditioning . In an operant chamber, the animal learns an association between the sound of the feed magazine when a feed pellet appears and the feed pellet. The magazine noise then acts as a secondary or conditioned amplifier . Since the noise signals the availability of a primary amplifier (food) to the animal, this noise itself acts as an amplifier.

The association between noise and food is formed by classical conditioning, in which a primary amplifier (food) as US (unconditional stimulus) and the noise as CS (conditional stimulus) are linked.

Secondary reinforcers are also used in other areas of animal learning. z. B. in dog or dolphin training, a click sound ( clicker training ) or a specific pitch of the trainer's voice is often used to reinforce the behavior.

The practical necessity of a conditioned reinforcer arises from the fact that stimulus-response associations are learned faster and better the more immediately a certain behavior is followed by a reinforcer. If a secondary reinforcer had not been introduced, the dolphin, for example, who performed a trick in the middle of the tank, would have to be given the food as a reinforcer as soon as possible. This is of course practically impossible, and so the delay would not allow the dolphin to learn which behavior is reinforced. The click sound as a secondary amplifier, on the other hand, can be presented immediately after the behavior to be amplified.

literature

  • Ernst Günther: How do you train a dolphin? In: Ernst Günther, Heinz P. Hofmann, Walter Rösler (eds.): Cassette. An almanac for the stage, podium and ring (=  cassette ). No. 4 . Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1980, p. 7-16 .