Clicker Training for Engineers

Engineers and Scientists study data acquisition from the standpoint of transforming changes in a physical parameter into electronic signals. The electronic signal may be used to drive a chart recorder or perhaps be digitized so that the data can be stored in a computer.

The sensors used fo data acquitition are very specific. A temperature sensor may be capable of detectign a wide range of temperatures but might not be very accurate as to the particular temperature it has detected. Another temperature sensor may have a very narrow range of temperature which it will measure, but eht measurement will be very accurate.

When training a dog, for example, we are dealing with a data acquisition system that has a wide variety of sensors and each of these sensors can be wide ranging or narrow and accurate depending on the benefits it provides to the dog. During training we would like to control which signals (information) is being acquired.

When digitizing electronic signals for a computer, a strobe signal is used to activate the conversion for entry into the computer. Strobe lights can perform a similar function by appearing to provide a visual snapshot of external events. If the scene changes too quickly or the strobe lights do not flash briefly enough, the scene becomes blurry and it is not clear what image was important.

A similar difficulty exists when training a dog. The dog's senses are aware of a continually changing situation--how can we give them a signal to provide them with a snapshot of what we liked? The click sound from a clicker device can provide that strobe signal.

Unlike computer circuitry, though, the dog has no reason to interpret the click as a strobe signal. The click only becomes a strobe signal if the click is followed by something the dog really values.