What is a prediction error in dog training?
Andrew Boyer
2025-07-19 19:19:30
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: 7
When a situation produces a good outcome, enough times, we learn to predict a reward. This leads us to repeat the situation to obtain that reward. This is reward prediction, the error part describes whether the reward is better, the same, or worse than expected. If the outcome is worse than expected, the likelihood of the behaviour being repeated is less. If the reward is better, the likelihood is increased, and if it stays the same, nothing changes. A reward prediction error isn’t just found in dogs, other animals such as rats, monkeys and even bees have this. It encourages us to seek out better and more successful ways of doing things. Reward prediction error is when the outcome is worse or better than expected, which can either decrease or increase the likelihood of a behaviour being repeated.