Evaluating the addition of positive reinforcement for learning a frightening task: a pilot study with horses.

This research article investigates whether adding positive reinforcement to negative reinforcement improves the learning process in horses performing a typically frightening task of walking over a tarp.

Research Objective and Hypothesis

• The main objective of the study was to determine whether a common horse training practice, negative reinforcement (NR), could be improved by adding positive reinforcement (PR).
• The hypothesis can be formulated as: Adding PR to NR will improve learning outcomes for horses being used in potentially intimidating tests, in this case, walking across a tarp.

Research Methodology

• The study involved 34 Arabian horses who were all handled by the same person to eliminate any variability arising from the handler.
• Half of the horses were treated “traditionally”, with only negative reinforcement(NR). In this case, the horses were put on a halter and the handler applied and released pressure until the horse managed to walk over the tarp with minimal anxiety.
• The second half of horses were also treated traditionally, but with an additional positive reinforcement (NR + PR), which consisted of food and verbal praise.
• The horses that refused to walk onto the tarp after 10 minutes, were considered as having “failed” the task.

Key Findings

• The study found that nine horses failed the task with six of them coming from the NR-only group. However, the difference was not statistically significant (p = .41).
• There was also no significant difference detected in the time taken for the first crossing of the tarp (p = .30) or the total time taken to reach a state of calmness (p = .67) between the two groups.
• Overall, the addition of PR did not significantly enhance learning this particular task.

Conclusion and Practical Implications

• Although the study found no statistical significance in learning outcomes between the two reinforcement methods, it noted that adding PR had practical benefits.
• Specifically, the inclusion of PR made the task safer and less tiring for the handler, thus possibly implicating its value in real-world applications.