EL110: Beyond the Click: Adventures in +R2.0

Intro to Errorless Learning: What it is, why we should be doing it, and what to watch out for

Let’s begin with a discussion of the term "errorless learning”, which is important to us because is offers the mindset that underpins everything we will be doing in this course. Importantly, it also is somewhat problematic for a couple of reasons that I will present below. So, I’m going to start by discussing the mindset, which is what I want us to embrace. And then we'll go over the possible pitfalls this term sets us up to encounter, and what we can do to avoid them.

Errorless Learning - The upside

First off, what does errorless learning mean? For many, the term evokes images of dogs running willy-nilly, never being told they're wrong, and being clicked whenever they accidentally happen upon the desired behavior. The idea of never punishing our dogs, and never letting them know they’re wrong, is on target, but that's where the similarity between this perception and the actual practice of errorless learning ends.

Technically speaking, the term “errorless learning” is used to describe an approach to teaching that seeks to minimize errors through carefully planned teaching conditions. It's about meticulous planning, strategic arrangement of the training environment, and us (the teacher) having an extremely clear understanding of the target behavior and of learning more generally.

Be forewarned, putting errorless learning into practice is not easy. And it may require a complete overhaul in your thinking about, and approach to training. More on this in a moment.

While new to many of us, the term has in fact been around for a long time. Specifically, it originates from work done in the 1930s by psychologist B.F. Skinner, who argued that "errors are not necessary for learning to occur.” Skinner was responding to an 1898 research paper titled "Trial and Error Learning", which described learning as a slow and arduous process. Skinner disagreed with this conclusion, countering that, in fact, “Learning success resides in the environment, not in the learner”.

More precisely, Skinner proposed that “Errors are not a function of learning or vice-versa, nor are they blamed on the learner. Errors are a function of poor analysis of behavior, a poorly designed shaping program, moving too fast from step to step in the program, and the lack of the prerequisite behavior necessary for success.” 

In other words, Skinner believed that learning is the responsibility of the teacher; that is, if the learner is not learning, if the learner is making mistakes, the problem is not to be found in the learner.

Rather, the problem is located in the learning environment: we, the teachers, have either misunderstood the “topography” of the behaviour (briefly: the picture of its components —don’t worry, we have a whole lecture on this topic later in the course); we’ve made inappropriate choices for our shaping criteria; we’ve lumped; or we haven't taught our learner important behaviours they need to have in place before working on the particular task at hand.

In errorless learning, the dog is indeed never wrong. But this doesn’t mean mistakes don’t occur. They do. What it means is that the error is the result of the shaping plan, not of the dog. Behavior doesn’t occur in a vacuum –it occurs in response to a set of conditions. Our dog is simply responding to the learning conditions, and, if those conditions do not provide sufficient information, the dog will respond accordingly, by making a mistake. Which might look like: repeating a previously reinforced or rehearsed behavior, freezing, improvising by throwing out random behaviors, shutting down, barking, being silly, or even leaving.

If you find your dog engaging in any of the above behaviours during the training process, then adopting an errorless learning mindset and approach to teaching will make a big difference.

Practically speaking, errorless learning, as we will explore throughout this course, involves becoming very aware of how to break down the behaviours we wish to teach, setting up our learning environment strategically to maximize our dog’s success and minimize their chance of making errors and performing “junk behaviors”, and, most importantly (at least from my perspective), minimizing frustration to maximize a positive emotional state throughout learning.

If you think about it, training is pretty much a game of charades we play with our dogs. We act out what we want, and they guess. When they guess correctly, we give them a treat.

Have you ever played charades? It can be a lot of fun. But it can also be confusing and frustrating. I like it, but it’s not something I want to play all the time. Now imagine if it is the only way you can communicate with someone, or get that thing you want most dearly. For our dogs, charades is our main method of teaching and learning. I believe, therefore, that it is our responsibility as teachers to make this guessing game as easy as possible. The better we get at it as a team, the more complex the behaviours we can work out. But we need to start simple, and get some foundations in place. We need to think things through carefully, and communicate clearly. This is what errorless learning is all about, and what we will be doing in this course.

Here’s an example of me teaching a new behaviour to one of my canine partners, Desirée. The behaviour is a new “base position” (a default start position –we will be working on base positions later in the course), which is an automatic down on a mat. The “antecedent arrangement” or set-up is me sitting on the floor, cross-legged, in front of the mat. I want Des to see this set-up and know her job is to come and lie down in front of me.

In this clip, I use the following techniques, which we will be working on in this course: transport, a marker system, luring, shaping, stationing, base position, micro-movements, strategic placement of reinforcement, loopy training, antecedent arrangements, establishing a cue hierarchy, behavioural momentum (my favourite), and an end-of-training routine. Yes, all of that in just three minutes! Can you spot them as I train? (we will break down this video in a future lecture)

The clip comprises the first and second sessions of training this behaviour; by the end of the clip, Des has the behaviour down pat. You will note that she does make a couple of errors (sitting instead of lying down), each time because of unclear information on my part. I quickly adjust my behaviour, and she corrects hers:

Errorless learning – The downside

Given the above, errorless learning puts all the responsibility of both learning and training on the shaper/teacher. In other words, on us. Also, the very term suggests that there should be no errors, and so if there are any, we are to blame. And that's a lot of pressure.

I don't know about you, but I don't need any more pressure in my dog training. I'm already my own worst critic and the first to blame myself when things go wrong. I don't need entire dog training theories to compound this behavior. And so, I want to emphasize the importance of not taking this concept too literally. We need to embrace the spirit of trying to plan and organize our training in a way that maximizes learning and minimizes frustration. But perfection is simply not possible. And we need to be OK with that.

Eileen Anderson wrote a great blog post outlining both the history of errorless learning and her critique of the term (not the concept), which you can read here. She suggests that we rename the approach “Enhanced Chances of Success Teaching”. Hmm…. I like that. I wonder if it will catch on.

Another reservation I have is that errorless learning, as presented by Skinner and company, treats the learner like a black box of response, instead of as a thinking, breathing, feeling, and creating being. And as such, the learning process is both limited and left too rigid for my liking. There is room for the dog to be creative in learning. In fact, I often depend on it. This is particularly important for more complicated tasks such as search and rescue, agility, herding, and gundog work. In these complex contexts, we depend on our dogs to think outside the box, to be creative, and often to improvise in order to get the job done. And we want to make sure that our learners maintain this ability.

As such, I'm going to strongly encourage you to embrace the concepts presented throughout this course, and work them into your current training practice in ways that make you more successful and training less stressful, but don't try to do this all at once. And don't try to train everything in such a precise, careful manner. 

There is room in dog training for messiness; in fact I believe it's critical. Sometimes we need things to get messy to get new ideas, for example. (Deb Jones wrote a great blog post recently on the importance of messiness in training, which you can read here)

I use the techniques and concepts taught in this class to train foundation behaviors; to build my relationship with my dogs around training; and to give them the training behaviours that they need in order to do the more complex work.

As such, when things get complicated, my dogs have strong core behaviours that anchor them in the messiness, and the confidence derived from a well-established, positive conditioned emotional response (+CER) to training developed through their initial learning in a low frustration environment.

I advise that you work through the exercises in this class a few minutes at a time. Work on each piece as an exercise in and of itself, sort of like sit-ups and pushups to help build your overall strength as a trainer. If you’re not sure what to do, experiment. Try short sessions, and, if things don’t work out, step back and use the experience as a learning process to hone your skills.

Don't try to extrapolate the concepts into everything you're doing all at once. Rather, pick one thing - starting with the exercises I offer - and limit the practice to that thing until it becomes fluent. Then, you can start expanding its use. As you become more comfortable and fluent with the techniques, and the way of thinking, they will naturally seep into your training more broadly.

I now use the mindset of errorless learning even in the messiest of situations, such as general farm chores. There is so much that I can't control when working my dog around the farm, but I can still think in terms of careful planning and arrangement of the work environment before we begin.

For example, I will make sure that I have a clear plan in my head about what I'm going to do, what I need my dog to do, what could possibly go wrong, how I might prevent it, and what infrastructure I need organized before we start. I also will have an exit strategy in place that I can default to if things go south: I’ll tie a leash around my waist, throw some treats in my pocket, and make sure there’s a crate or empty horse stall available in the barn/working area to confine my dog in a pinch, for example. And I will ensure that the task is not beyond the dog’s established skills. Finally, I will go out to the work area and check the environment to make sure everything is ready and there are no suprises waiting (such as a loose sheep!). Only then will I bring out my canine partner.

Bringing an errorless mindset to work is particularly critical for my young dogs who are just learning, and helps me prevent my dog from getting into trouble and practicing behaviours I'd rather she didn't learn, or having her confidence eroded. It teaches me to have foresight, to plan ahead, and to break things down into the smallest steps possible. Steps that are not nearly as small as I can do in a more controlled environment, such as my living room. But the principles are the same.

It's these principles that I wish to impart to you, so that you can take them and apply them to whatever context you need. To use them to enhance your work and maximize the success you have with your dog. And not to limit you or overwhelm you. So please keep this in mind as we go through the class, and work through the concepts I will be presenting.

One of the tenants of errorless learning is the importance of learning being a positive experience for the learner. I believe it must also be a positive experience for the teacher. Learning should be an enjoyable, fun process for all. So be sure not to let the implied need for perfection create analysis paralysis in your practice. Just get out there, work your dog, do your best. And, most importantly, have fun with your training.