Thursday, March 17, 2016
Final Thoughts
Overall the training was a good experience. If you would have told me at the beginning of the semester that I would be comfortable even feeding a live rat I would have not believe you. Although I definitely don't think I'm cut out for animal training, I am proud of myself for having the courage to work by myself. I got so comfortable with Ruby and fact that I would sometimes forget to wash my hands after holding her! Although I did Sniffy training before I began training Ruby and magazine training with Sniffy went so well that I thought the same or similar would be the case for Ruby. Yes we had a few bumps in the road but overall the experience was beneficial and informative.
Ruby vs. Sniffy
In general, I found the Sniffy program to be very useful in my understanding of how to properly train a rat via operant conditioning. However I don't believe that sniff these training gave me as good of an understanding when it comes to The time and amount of commitment and patients necessary to train a live rat. However, the extent to which I would need time, commitment, and training was definitely not the same for Sniffy and Ruby. Magazine training Ruby was very different than magazine training Sniffy. Sniffy took approximately 30mins, but unfortunately Ruby's training took almost 4 times that amount of time (112mins). Sniffy's training for FR1 schedule of reinforcement took approximately 105 mins, whereas Ruby's training for FR1 took about 180mins. Interestingly, Ruby's training for FR2 actually took slightly less time, approximately 54mins total, while Sniffy's FR2 training took about 63mins.
Cumulative Record for Sniffy FR2
Cumulative Record for Ruby FR2
Strengths of Sniffy:
- The Sniffy book gives a fantastic explanation of operant conditioning and gives step by step, easy to follow instructions on how to shape sniffy.
- I definitely felt more comfortable with the conditioning termonology and processes after completing the Sniffy Training.
- Not super time consuming and efficient
Weaknesses of Sniffy:
- Not exactly an accurate representation of how quickly our rats will learn.
- The data complied for Sniffy is not able to be used in research
Strengths of live training:
- Can be used in research
- Gives actual hands on experience which helps students understand how long it actually takes to train an animal
Weaknesses of live training:
- Extremely time consuming
- Results take much longer to show up.
Would reccomend for future classes.
Graphs and Extinction
Extinction
Extinction is the process of extinguishing a behavior that is previously learned. For Ruby extinction involves attempting to terminate her association that pressing the bar results in a yummy reinforcement. The overall goal for extinction is to decrease and eventually eliminate Ruby's bar pressing behavior.
I didn't expect Ruby to respond well to extinction, but I could have never surmised how poorly she would actually respond. The first day of extinction, Ruby seemed very upset when reinforcement was not given when she pressed the bar. She would regularly jump on the bar in an attempt to receive food. For the first 15 mins or so she was doing basically every behavior that I had rewarded in the past including sticking her head all the way in the food magazine and repeatedly rearing up around the box.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Challenges Along the Way
The problems I had with Ruby were mainly with magazine training. I did Sniffy training before I began training Ruby. Magazine training with Sniffy went so well that I thought the same or similar would be the case for Ruby. However, that simply wasn't the case given that Ruby's training took almost 4 times as Sniffy's training.One major setback that I experienced while training Ruby was when the individual training before me left chocolate pellets from their training in the food magazine. Ruby became satiated after 10mins, and I think it really had an effect on why magazine training took me so long. From that day forward, I always checked the food magazine before every session.
It was also challenging to make time in my busy schedule to train Ruby. I tried to train her at the same time every day, but there were just some days that I wasn't able to train her at 3:30 PM. My training could have definitely improved had I been able to train at the exact same time everyday.
I think the most challenging situation that I encountered was when Ruby escaped in the holding room. I had just gotten done weighing Ruby and when I opened the top to the tin box on the scale, she jump out and started scurring around the room. I immediately shut the door and attempted to catch her. Every time I would get ahold of Ruby, she would leap out of my hands. It took me a good 10 minutes to finally catch her. Needless to say, it was a traumatic experience for both of us!
It was also challenging to make time in my busy schedule to train Ruby. I tried to train her at the same time every day, but there were just some days that I wasn't able to train her at 3:30 PM. My training could have definitely improved had I been able to train at the exact same time everyday.
I think the most challenging situation that I encountered was when Ruby escaped in the holding room. I had just gotten done weighing Ruby and when I opened the top to the tin box on the scale, she jump out and started scurring around the room. I immediately shut the door and attempted to catch her. Every time I would get ahold of Ruby, she would leap out of my hands. It took me a good 10 minutes to finally catch her. Needless to say, it was a traumatic experience for both of us!
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Partial Schedules of Reinforcement
After about 6 days of training Ruby on a continuous reinforcement schedule of Fixed Ratio 1 (every time Ruby would press the bar she would receive a reinforcement) I put Ruby on a partial reinforcement schedule of Fixed Ratio 2, which means that Ruby will receive a reinforcement every 2 times she presses the bar. Although continous reinforcement is best for shaping a behavior quickly, partial reinforcement schedules strengthen resistance to extinction.
Goal: To switch Ruby from a FR1 schedule of reinforcement to other partial reinforcement schedules (FR 2, 3, 4) in order to strengthen her resistance to extinction
Procedure: The procedure for the partial schedules of reinforcement is basically the same as FR 1. The difference simply being a different option to select on the computer program for each schedule of partial reinforcement. I will begin Ruby on and FR2 to schedule a reinforcement and continue to stay on that schedule of reinforcement until Ruby has received at least 60 reinforcements for that day. Once Ruby has reached 60 reinforcements I will go on to a FR3.
FR 2 Days 1 and 2
Ruby appeared to be frustrated and confused once she was put on FR2 schedule of reinforcement. The first day of FR2 training involved Ruby pressing The bar and looking into the food magazine more frequently. Ruby would often press the bar a couple of times and then check the magazine, but today she checked the magazine almost every time she pressed the bar. There were a few times that we wouldn't receive a reinforcement for pressing the bar and she would go into the front left corner. I like furring to it as her "thinking corner" because she tends to go there when something in the training is frustrating her. It's almost as if she is contemplating her next move. Ruby was super close to receiving 60 reinforcements (112 bar presses), but I decided to keep her on FR2 for one more day to ensure she gets at least 60 reinforcements. On the second day of FR2, Ruby appeared to be becoming more accustomed to the FR2 schedule and received well over 60 reinforcements (107 to be exact).
FR 3 Day 1
Today I switched Ruby's schedule of reinforcement from an FR2 to an FR 3, meaning that Ruby will now recieve a reinforcement every 3rd time she presses the bar. Ruby's behavior was similar today to her behavior on the first day of FR2. She seemed confused and frustrated at first but gradually became more comfortable with the pattern of reinforcement
Goal: To switch Ruby from a FR1 schedule of reinforcement to other partial reinforcement schedules (FR 2, 3, 4) in order to strengthen her resistance to extinction
Procedure: The procedure for the partial schedules of reinforcement is basically the same as FR 1. The difference simply being a different option to select on the computer program for each schedule of partial reinforcement. I will begin Ruby on and FR2 to schedule a reinforcement and continue to stay on that schedule of reinforcement until Ruby has received at least 60 reinforcements for that day. Once Ruby has reached 60 reinforcements I will go on to a FR3.
FR 2 Days 1 and 2
Ruby appeared to be frustrated and confused once she was put on FR2 schedule of reinforcement. The first day of FR2 training involved Ruby pressing The bar and looking into the food magazine more frequently. Ruby would often press the bar a couple of times and then check the magazine, but today she checked the magazine almost every time she pressed the bar. There were a few times that we wouldn't receive a reinforcement for pressing the bar and she would go into the front left corner. I like furring to it as her "thinking corner" because she tends to go there when something in the training is frustrating her. It's almost as if she is contemplating her next move. Ruby was super close to receiving 60 reinforcements (112 bar presses), but I decided to keep her on FR2 for one more day to ensure she gets at least 60 reinforcements. On the second day of FR2, Ruby appeared to be becoming more accustomed to the FR2 schedule and received well over 60 reinforcements (107 to be exact).
First Day of FR2
Cumulative Record of FR2 Day 1
FR 3 Day 1
Today I switched Ruby's schedule of reinforcement from an FR2 to an FR 3, meaning that Ruby will now recieve a reinforcement every 3rd time she presses the bar. Ruby's behavior was similar today to her behavior on the first day of FR2. She seemed confused and frustrated at first but gradually became more comfortable with the pattern of reinforcement
Shaping Up Nicely
Over-all goal for Shaping: Gradually reward Ruby for acts that will eventually lead her to receive reinforcement on her own by pressing a bar that distributes the chocolate pellet (reinforcer).
Goal for Shaping Days 4-7: To successfully reinforce Ruby every time she is near the bar then raising the criteria the more she associates the bar with reinforcement.
Procedure : I will begin by rewarding Ruby every time she consumes the reinforcement then looks to the left (where the bar is located) . I will then raise the criteria to where Ruby will receive a reinforcement when rearing up anywhere in the front half of the box. Following, I will reinforce Ruby anytime she rears up over the bar (even if she doesn't touch it). Finally, I'll reinforce Ruby only when she touches the bar. Hopefully, she is able to press the bar on her own to receive reinforcement.
Shaping Day 4 and 5
Fortunately for me, Ruby is pressing the bar about the same as the other rats. It is encouraging to me that Ruby is preforming at the same level as the others, simply because I thought we were behind because magazine training took so long. Ruby has continued to improve each day and I am very encouraged by that. By the end of day 5 Ruby was not longer pressing the bar by jumping up on her hind legs. Instead she was pressing the bar with her paws.
Ruby is finally at the point where I can just watch her press the bar and not have to manually reinforce her. As soon as I put her in the operant box she runs straight to the food magazine then once she discovers there isn't any food she begins pressing the bar. Her typical bar pressing behavior involves pressing the bar and then retrieving one pellet at a time, but occasionally she will press the bar multiple times then retrieve the pellets she's accumulated. I plan on transferring her to a fixed ratio 2 schedule of reinforcement tomorrow.
Overall, the shaping process has been a very good experience. Ruby did much better learning to press the bar than I thought she would based on her magazine training. It took 7 days for me to feel comfortable moving on to an FR 2, but Ruby eventually achieved the shaping goal (to press the bar in order to receive reinforcement). The shaping process with Ruby was closer to the class/book discussion of shaping than was the books description of magazine training. Ruby's training took a little longer than the book's description, but overall it was a successful experience!
Goal for Shaping Days 4-7: To successfully reinforce Ruby every time she is near the bar then raising the criteria the more she associates the bar with reinforcement.
Procedure : I will begin by rewarding Ruby every time she consumes the reinforcement then looks to the left (where the bar is located) . I will then raise the criteria to where Ruby will receive a reinforcement when rearing up anywhere in the front half of the box. Following, I will reinforce Ruby anytime she rears up over the bar (even if she doesn't touch it). Finally, I'll reinforce Ruby only when she touches the bar. Hopefully, she is able to press the bar on her own to receive reinforcement.
Shaping Day 4 and 5
Fortunately for me, Ruby is pressing the bar about the same as the other rats. It is encouraging to me that Ruby is preforming at the same level as the others, simply because I thought we were behind because magazine training took so long. Ruby has continued to improve each day and I am very encouraged by that. By the end of day 5 Ruby was not longer pressing the bar by jumping up on her hind legs. Instead she was pressing the bar with her paws.
Shaping Day 5
Shaping Day 6 and 7Ruby is finally at the point where I can just watch her press the bar and not have to manually reinforce her. As soon as I put her in the operant box she runs straight to the food magazine then once she discovers there isn't any food she begins pressing the bar. Her typical bar pressing behavior involves pressing the bar and then retrieving one pellet at a time, but occasionally she will press the bar multiple times then retrieve the pellets she's accumulated. I plan on transferring her to a fixed ratio 2 schedule of reinforcement tomorrow.
Shaping Day 7
Results/DiscussionOverall, the shaping process has been a very good experience. Ruby did much better learning to press the bar than I thought she would based on her magazine training. It took 7 days for me to feel comfortable moving on to an FR 2, but Ruby eventually achieved the shaping goal (to press the bar in order to receive reinforcement). The shaping process with Ruby was closer to the class/book discussion of shaping than was the books description of magazine training. Ruby's training took a little longer than the book's description, but overall it was a successful experience!
Time to get in Shape
Shaping involves molding a subject, by using very small, incremental steps, to reach the target goal. I will slowly positively reinforce Ruby, giving her a pellet to shape her behavior toward the pressing the bar in her operant box. After she has made the realization that reinforcement comes from the food magazine and that the reinforcement is given when she does something favorable, I will have to give her reinforcement the closer she gets to pressing the bar.
Over-all goal for Shaping: Gradually reward Ruby for acts that will eventually lead her to receive reinforcement on her own by pressing a bar that distributes the chocolate pellet (reinforcer).
Goal for Shaping Days 1-3: To successfully reinforce Ruby every time she is near the bar then raising the criteria the more she associates the bar with reinforcement.
Procedure : I will begin by rewarding Ruby every time she consumes the reinforcement then looks to the left (where the bar is located) . I will then raise the criteria to where Ruby will receive a reinforcement when rearing up anywhere in the front half of the box. Following, I will reinforce Ruby anytime she rears up over the bar (even if she doesn't touch it). Finally, I'll reinforce Ruby only when she touches the bar. Hopefully, she is able to press the bar on her own to receive reinforcement.
Shaping Day 1
Ruby is finally magazine trained. We had a rough time getting there, but she can finally make the association between the light and sound of the pellet dropping. Today we took baby steps until Ruby began touching the bar. I started to reward her every time she was near the bar and also every time she would rear up. This may seem to be a strange behavior to reward, but in order to actually press the bar to receive the food on her own, Ruby must exert some force by rearing. By the end of the session Ruby put her paws on the bar 4 times.
Shaping Day 2
Ruby pressed the bar 14 times today! After such a difficult time magazine training, I am very surprised that Ruby was shaping better than magazine training. I reinforced her only when she reared up over the bar or touched the bar with some part of her body. However, the majority of Ruby's bar presses were a result of her jumping on the bar with her hind legs while holding onto the light. Since the part of the goal of training is to get Ruby to press the bar with her paws, this isn't exactly ideal but I am definitely glad she is making progress.
I am relieved that Ruby has gotten progressively better each day that I have trained her. Today she pressed the bar 19 times and the majority of them were with her paws. I honestly think she would have done much better had I not reinforced her almost every time she touched the bar with her paws. Ideally, during the shaping of Ruby, I would only manually reward her every 30 seconds. However, I just got so excited that she was touching the bar with her paws that I would reward her every time she did it. I kinda backtracked at the end by rewarding her when she would rear up and touch the bar even when she barely touched it. I think it is more important that Ruby actually be able to learn the technique properly and not just be rewarded every time she lightly pressed the bar.
Over-all goal for Shaping: Gradually reward Ruby for acts that will eventually lead her to receive reinforcement on her own by pressing a bar that distributes the chocolate pellet (reinforcer).
Goal for Shaping Days 1-3: To successfully reinforce Ruby every time she is near the bar then raising the criteria the more she associates the bar with reinforcement.
Procedure : I will begin by rewarding Ruby every time she consumes the reinforcement then looks to the left (where the bar is located) . I will then raise the criteria to where Ruby will receive a reinforcement when rearing up anywhere in the front half of the box. Following, I will reinforce Ruby anytime she rears up over the bar (even if she doesn't touch it). Finally, I'll reinforce Ruby only when she touches the bar. Hopefully, she is able to press the bar on her own to receive reinforcement.
Shaping Day 1
Ruby is finally magazine trained. We had a rough time getting there, but she can finally make the association between the light and sound of the pellet dropping. Today we took baby steps until Ruby began touching the bar. I started to reward her every time she was near the bar and also every time she would rear up. This may seem to be a strange behavior to reward, but in order to actually press the bar to receive the food on her own, Ruby must exert some force by rearing. By the end of the session Ruby put her paws on the bar 4 times.
Ruby pressed the bar 14 times today! After such a difficult time magazine training, I am very surprised that Ruby was shaping better than magazine training. I reinforced her only when she reared up over the bar or touched the bar with some part of her body. However, the majority of Ruby's bar presses were a result of her jumping on the bar with her hind legs while holding onto the light. Since the part of the goal of training is to get Ruby to press the bar with her paws, this isn't exactly ideal but I am definitely glad she is making progress.
Shaping Day 3
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Ruby's Magazine Training
Goal: To successfully magazine train Ruby. Magazine training involves conditioning a subject to associate an unconditioned stimulus such as food with a conditioned stimulus such as a sound or light. My intention is to condition Ruby to associate a blinking light with the delivery of a chocolate-flavored pellet in the food magazine (food hopper).
Procedure: The process of magazine training should take 1-3 sessions. However, it took Ruby a little longer than 3 days, but once she was able to associate the light with the delivery of food, she was much more successful. In order to properly magazine train, Ruby was deprived of food for approximately 4 days before we began training to ensure that she would be at 85% of her body weight before we began training. The first time Ruby was weighed, she came in at a 205, relatively small compared to the rest of the rats. By the time we finished her diet she was weighing in at 186.6, only 1.6 lbs away from her target weight of 185. Two days before training I began to feed her chocolate pellets. Rats do not eat all of a food substance the first time it is presented to them. They first nibble at the substance then return after a waiting period to ensure the food is safe to eat. For more information on the black and white hooded "fancy" rat see the wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fancy_rat .
Magazine Training Day 1:
Ruby appeared to be pretty nervous as we began our magazine training which we began on February 23, 2016 at 3:36pm. She ran around the operant box sniffing around and didn't appear to be interested in the pellets she was provided. I definitely thought the food would appeal to her as her previous behavior seemed to indicate a great enjoyment for the food. The night before Ruby's training commenced, I put her rat chow and chocolate pellets in a clean soap dish. She removed the rat chow chucks and put them aside, returning to the chocolate pellets and began eating them first. Her initial eagerness for the chocolate pellets, I thought, indicated that she would do great in magazine training based on her apparent craving. We put a screen up to block out people and light, and that appeared to help slightly.
Results: We ended the session short (after 22mins) as I had dispensed 36 pellets and she only went to the hopper 3 times to get food.
Discussion: It appears that Ruby hasn't quite yet been able to make the association between the light and the food yet. Ending the session early was not ideal, but with her apparent disinterest in the food there was not much more that we could do.
Magazine Training Day 2:
The beginning of the day was good! Ruby went straight to the hopper and began eating the chocolate pellets. Little did I realize, the trainer before me left the pellets that their rat didn't consume in the hopper so Ruby was consuming far more pellets than the 24 I had given her at the start of the session. As soon as she had removed her head from the food magazine I would reward her with a pellet, but I noticed the dropping of the pellet wasn't making the clinking noise that it had the day before. I suspected that the person before me had left pellets in the hopper, but I didn't want to interrupt her training, as one of Karen Pryor's 8th law of training states "Do not interrupt a training session gratuitously, as that constitutes as punishment."
Results: I kept the session going for the full 30mins, but Ruby seemed very uninterested after about 15 mins.
Discussion: Ruby hasn't yet made the association with the bar and the reinforcements.
Magazine Training Days 3 and 4:
Days 3 and 4 were very similar. Ruby tends to begin the session by sniffing around and spending a fair amount of time in the front left hand corner of the operant box. Her nervousness seems to have decreased over the progression of the last couple of days making her more comfortable with the operant box.
Results: By the end of day 4 of magazine training, Ruby was finally able to associate the light and the sound of the dispenser. When she is on the opposite side of the chamber and I click the button to dispense a pellet, she will head back to the food magazine to receive her reinforcement.
Discussion: After 4 approximately 29 minute sessions, I am comfortable in reporting that Ruby is fully magazine trained. Ruby has met the criteria of magazine training, such that when she is on the opposite end of the chamber and I dispense a reinforcement, she will scurry to the food magazine. The first two days Ruby appeared to be extremely nervous. Remaining in the front left corner for extended periods of time (2-5mins at a time) and urinating as soon as I put her in the box led me to assume that her nervousness was preventing her from being successfully magazine trained. Magazine training Ruby was quite different than our discussions in class and what we discussed in the book. My expectation was that magazine training would take approximately a day, maybe 2, however it took Ruby 4 days to become properly magazine trained.
Procedure: The process of magazine training should take 1-3 sessions. However, it took Ruby a little longer than 3 days, but once she was able to associate the light with the delivery of food, she was much more successful. In order to properly magazine train, Ruby was deprived of food for approximately 4 days before we began training to ensure that she would be at 85% of her body weight before we began training. The first time Ruby was weighed, she came in at a 205, relatively small compared to the rest of the rats. By the time we finished her diet she was weighing in at 186.6, only 1.6 lbs away from her target weight of 185. Two days before training I began to feed her chocolate pellets. Rats do not eat all of a food substance the first time it is presented to them. They first nibble at the substance then return after a waiting period to ensure the food is safe to eat. For more information on the black and white hooded "fancy" rat see the wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fancy_rat .
Magazine Training Day 1:
Ruby appeared to be pretty nervous as we began our magazine training which we began on February 23, 2016 at 3:36pm. She ran around the operant box sniffing around and didn't appear to be interested in the pellets she was provided. I definitely thought the food would appeal to her as her previous behavior seemed to indicate a great enjoyment for the food. The night before Ruby's training commenced, I put her rat chow and chocolate pellets in a clean soap dish. She removed the rat chow chucks and put them aside, returning to the chocolate pellets and began eating them first. Her initial eagerness for the chocolate pellets, I thought, indicated that she would do great in magazine training based on her apparent craving. We put a screen up to block out people and light, and that appeared to help slightly.
Results: We ended the session short (after 22mins) as I had dispensed 36 pellets and she only went to the hopper 3 times to get food.
Discussion: It appears that Ruby hasn't quite yet been able to make the association between the light and the food yet. Ending the session early was not ideal, but with her apparent disinterest in the food there was not much more that we could do.
Magazine Training Day 2:
The beginning of the day was good! Ruby went straight to the hopper and began eating the chocolate pellets. Little did I realize, the trainer before me left the pellets that their rat didn't consume in the hopper so Ruby was consuming far more pellets than the 24 I had given her at the start of the session. As soon as she had removed her head from the food magazine I would reward her with a pellet, but I noticed the dropping of the pellet wasn't making the clinking noise that it had the day before. I suspected that the person before me had left pellets in the hopper, but I didn't want to interrupt her training, as one of Karen Pryor's 8th law of training states "Do not interrupt a training session gratuitously, as that constitutes as punishment."
Results: I kept the session going for the full 30mins, but Ruby seemed very uninterested after about 15 mins.
Discussion: Ruby hasn't yet made the association with the bar and the reinforcements.
Magazine Training Days 3 and 4:
Days 3 and 4 were very similar. Ruby tends to begin the session by sniffing around and spending a fair amount of time in the front left hand corner of the operant box. Her nervousness seems to have decreased over the progression of the last couple of days making her more comfortable with the operant box.
Results: By the end of day 4 of magazine training, Ruby was finally able to associate the light and the sound of the dispenser. When she is on the opposite side of the chamber and I click the button to dispense a pellet, she will head back to the food magazine to receive her reinforcement.
Discussion: After 4 approximately 29 minute sessions, I am comfortable in reporting that Ruby is fully magazine trained. Ruby has met the criteria of magazine training, such that when she is on the opposite end of the chamber and I dispense a reinforcement, she will scurry to the food magazine. The first two days Ruby appeared to be extremely nervous. Remaining in the front left corner for extended periods of time (2-5mins at a time) and urinating as soon as I put her in the box led me to assume that her nervousness was preventing her from being successfully magazine trained. Magazine training Ruby was quite different than our discussions in class and what we discussed in the book. My expectation was that magazine training would take approximately a day, maybe 2, however it took Ruby 4 days to become properly magazine trained.
Here is a picture of Ruby and me after we completed our last day of magazine training! I was super excited.
Cumulative Record Magazine Training Day 3
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Overview of Daily Procedure Involved in Training Ruby
Below is a picture of where Ruby stays when I am not training her, so a little over 23 hours a day. She stays on a shelf with 20 other rats.
When it is time to train, I take her from the shelf and bring her to a separate room filled with operant boxes. A picture of Ruby's operant box (image 1) is listed below. The operant box, also called the Skinner box as it was created and made famous by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, is fairly straightforward and simple. It consists of a pellet dispenser (image 3) that can be programed to be dispensed by me manually by pressing a button on a handheld device (image 4) but can also be programed to dispense pellets once Ruby presses the bar (image 5).
After 30 minutes of training is complete, I'll take Ruby back to the rat holding area and weigh her in the scale pictured below, then I'll document her weight (we want her to be as close to 185grams as possible) feed her, and put her up.
When it is time to train, I take her from the shelf and bring her to a separate room filled with operant boxes. A picture of Ruby's operant box (image 1) is listed below. The operant box, also called the Skinner box as it was created and made famous by behaviorist B.F. Skinner, is fairly straightforward and simple. It consists of a pellet dispenser (image 3) that can be programed to be dispensed by me manually by pressing a button on a handheld device (image 4) but can also be programed to dispense pellets once Ruby presses the bar (image 5).
Ruby's Home
Operant Box
Food Dispenser
Manual Food Dispenser
Food Dispenser Bar and Food Magazine
Before every session, I'll wipe down the operant box with soap and water to remove the smell of any other rat that trained previously. I also change the bedding before starting Ruby's training as sniffing other rat waste can be distracting for Ruby as well. The first couple of training sessions with Ruby consisted of me manually dispensing pellets to Ruby every time she was near the food magazine. Gradually, I reinforced Ruby with a pellet when she would get closer to the bar, then every time she would rear up over the bar, then every time she touched the bar, then finally she was pressing the bar all by herself! I used Karen Pryor's 10 laws of shaping to help train Ruby. Here is a link to the 10 rules in case anyone is inspired to successfully train their pet after reading this blog! http://www.clickertraining.com/node/299After 30 minutes of training is complete, I'll take Ruby back to the rat holding area and weigh her in the scale pictured below, then I'll document her weight (we want her to be as close to 185grams as possible) feed her, and put her up.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
Sniffy the Virtual Rat
As untechnologically savvy as I am, I was finally able to figure out my problems with the Sniffy program. Sniffy is a computer program that simulates the type of environment that is involved with training in an operant box. Sniffy is not designed to actually produce result, but instead to help Psychology of Learning students practice training using operate conditioning works before trying to train a real rat.
Sniffy and I were then able to begin magazine training. It only took us about 30mins, but I got a really good idea of how long a session with Ruby will last. The purpose of magazine training is to shape Sniffy to associate the sound of the bar with a pellet dropping in the food magazine. Magazine training prepares Sniffy for shaping as it begins to recognize that when food is dispensed it is doing s behavior that I want it to increase, positive reinforcement. Below is the cumulative record of his magazine training.
After Sniffy was fully magazine trained, I began shaping Sniffy to press the bar. Having such a smooth time with magazine training, I definitely thought shaping would be easier than it was. The instructions in the book say that it should take about 30 to 45 minutes to shape Sniffy, it took me approximately an hour and a half. I would find myself talking to sniffy trying to instruct him to press the bar which of course did no good because the virtual rats if he can't hear my instruction it's also probably not advised to talk to the real rat as verbal communication can be seen as reinforcement.
Sniffy and I were then able to begin magazine training. It only took us about 30mins, but I got a really good idea of how long a session with Ruby will last. The purpose of magazine training is to shape Sniffy to associate the sound of the bar with a pellet dropping in the food magazine. Magazine training prepares Sniffy for shaping as it begins to recognize that when food is dispensed it is doing s behavior that I want it to increase, positive reinforcement. Below is the cumulative record of his magazine training.
After Sniffy was fully magazine trained, I began shaping Sniffy to press the bar. Having such a smooth time with magazine training, I definitely thought shaping would be easier than it was. The instructions in the book say that it should take about 30 to 45 minutes to shape Sniffy, it took me approximately an hour and a half. I would find myself talking to sniffy trying to instruct him to press the bar which of course did no good because the virtual rats if he can't hear my instruction it's also probably not advised to talk to the real rat as verbal communication can be seen as reinforcement.
Following Sniffy's initial shaping, I began transitioning from a Fixed Ratio 1 (every time it pressed the bar it received a reinforcement) to a Fixed Ratio 2, where it would be awarded a pellet every second time it pressed the bar. This took much longer than I thought, approximately 1 hour, simply because I didn't realize that the Sniffy program didn't allow me to go to other websites (wanted to work on my blog and leave Sniffy to it's own devices). That was my fault for thinking I could multi-task. Honestly, I think it's beneficial that the program doesn't allow the trainer to venture elsewhere since he or she also shouldn't be multi-tasking when shaping his or her live rat. I noticed that Sniffy appeared to be confused and even a little frustrated when I put it on an FR 2 schedule. It would press the bar and then press it again and no food would come out so it would run to a different area of the box seemingly in frustration. I then progressed to an FR 5 schedule and then began extinction. Sniffy was extinct faster than it was able to be shaped which I don't think the same will be the case for my real rat, Ruby.
FR 2 Cumulative Record
Sorry this one is a little blurry, but I thought it was still important to post so you viewers can see the decrease in Sniffy's behavior after extinction.
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