In this video Dr Andrew McLean describes operant conditioning, an important part of learning theory. Operant conditioning means that behaviours become more or less likely as a result of their consequences. The terms positive and negative are here used to describe adding or removing something, rather than good or bad.

Positive reinforcement means adding something that the horse likes, to produce a behavior that we want, like giving a treat or a scratch when the horse does the right thing. 

Negative reinforcement means removing something the horse doesn’t like, to make a behaviour more likely, like removing a leg aid when the horse moves forward. 

Positive punishment is adding something the horse doesn’t want, to make behavior go away, like smacking a horse that kicks. 

Negative punishment means ignoring a behavior that we don’t want. 

We mostly use positive and negative reinforcement, and preferably together, which is called combined reinforcement. We use the reins to stop the horse, and then give the release. The pressure motivates, but it’s the release that actually trains the behavior. Dr McLean describes how we can apply this in training, and why timing is super important.