Field Guide · Glossary
Loading a marker
Learning scienceThe process of pairing a sound with food repeatedly, until the sound alone reliably predicts that food is coming.
How it works
A marker starts as a meaningless noise. Loading gives it meaning by pairing: the sound happens, food arrives, over and over, with no behavior being asked for. Once the pairing holds, the sound can be used to mark a behavior precisely at the moment it happens, and it functions as a reinforcer in its own right. It has to be reloaded occasionally, because a marker that stops being followed by anything gradually stops meaning anything.
What it looks like
A handler clicks and immediately hands over a treat, thirty times across a few short sessions, asking for nothing. By the end the dog's head snaps around at the click before the hand has moved.
Commonly confused with
- Secondary reinforcer
- A secondary reinforcer is what a loaded marker has become: something that means nothing on its own but has acquired value by predicting something that does. Loading is the process; the secondary reinforcer is the result.
Related terms
Where this comes up
Gear that helps
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Clicker
A clear, consistent marker your dog learns to trust. One click means "yes, that, a treat is coming," which sharpens your timing on everything else.
High-value freeze-dried training treats
The paycheck. For reactive work the reward has to beat the trigger, so we keep these tiny, soft, and genuinely exciting, not everyday biscuits.
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