Animal training is meant to teach specific behavioral responses to specific cues. Clicker training (CT) is a popular training method based on the use of a device that emits a sound of double-click to be associated as a first-order conditioned stimulus in contingency with positive reinforcements. After some repetitions, the clicker sound gains some incentive value and can be paired with the desired behavior. Animal trainers believed that CT can decrease training time compared to other types of training. Herein, we used two-month old miniature piglets to evaluate whether CT decreased the number of repetitions required to learn complex behaviors as compared with animals trained with voice instead of the clicker. In addition, we compared the number of correct choices of animals from both groups when exposed to object discriminative tests. Results indicated that CT decreased the number of repetitions required for pigs to learn to fetch an object but reduced the ability of animals to make correct choices during the discriminate trials. This suggests that CT is more efficient than voice to teach complex behaviors but reduces the ability of animals to use cognitive processes required to discriminate and select objects associated with reward.

中文翻译：

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Clicker培训加快了对复杂行为的学习，但降低了尤卡坦微型猪的判别能力。

动物训练旨在教导对特定线索的特定行为反应。Clicker训练（CT）是一种流行的训练方法，其基于使用一种发出双击声音的设备，该设备会与具有正增强作用的应急情况相关联为一阶条件刺激。重复几次后，咔嗒声会获得一些激励值，并且可以与所需的行为配对。动物训练师相信，与其他类型的训练相比，CT可以减少训练时间。在本文中，我们使用了两个月大的小型仔猪来评估与通过语音（而不是单击）训练的动物相比，CT是否减少了学习复杂行为所需的重复次数。此外，我们比较了在进行对象判别测试时两组动物正确选择的数量。结果表明，CT减少了猪学习取回物体所需的重复次数，但降低了动物在区分试验中做出正确选择的能力。这表明CT比语音更有效地教导复杂的行为，但降低了动物使用辨别和选择与奖励相关的对象所需的认知过程的能力。