CyberRat Lab Report #1: Magazine Training
Notes
Observable Behaviors:
1. Paws against glass
2. Nose to ceiling
3. Sticking nose under the bars on the floor
4. Paws on lever (4 times)
5. Stand on hind legs
6. Sniffed tail
7. Stuck face in magazine
I CHECKED AND WE CAN USE SNIFFING BUT NOT SMELLING –Ashley
Actions Observed:
1. Sticking nose between bars
2. Sniffing top of bars
3. Rearing up on back legs
4. Paws against glass/walls
5. Sniffing ceiling
6. Sniffing magazine
7. Sniffing glass/walls
8. Scratched nose with back paw
9. Walking courner to courner
10. Sniffing tail
11. Put paw on level (4 TIMES)
12. Sat still turning head side to side
13. Used back paw to scratch stomach
14. Put front paws to mouth/nose and sniffed them
Issues That Occured:
1. Trial #1: At first Ashley thought we HAD to always use 5 drops when reinforcing and didn’t fade the number of drops at the appropriate time
2. Trial #2: Ashley accidentally used the 1st rat again in a second experiment and did not use a brand new rat
3. Ashley attempted and failed experiment 2 times; Passed 3rd time
c. Each time failed and started a new experiment the procedure used became more specific with reinforcement guidelines
Original Procedure (Trial #1):
1. Reinforce 5x when the rat’s nose is at or in the magazine for the first few times
2. Allow to move farther away then reinforce 5x when close to magazine a few times
3. Allow to even move farther away and reinforce 5x when the rat looks at the magazine
4. Fade to 2x when looking at magazine and across the cage
5. Fade to 1x when not looking at magazine and across the cage
Was not happening without delay so added the following step 6:
0. 1x when not looking at the magazine but 2x if rat responds immediately
Never Mastered- Failed Trial #1
0. Fade to 1x when not looking at magazine and across the cage
If happened 5x with success then experiment would have been successful
Updated Procedure (Trial #2):
Reinforce 5x when the rat’s nose was at or in the magazine (5x before moving on)
1. Allow the rat to move a little farther away from the magazine and reinforce when it gets close to the magazine 2x (5x with success before moving on)
2. Fade to allowing the rat to move farther away and reinforce 2x when the rat looks at the magazine (5x with success before moving on)
3. Fade to allowing the rat to go to the other side of the cage and reinforce when the rat looks at the magazine 2x (5x with success before moving on)
4. Fade to 1x when the rat is across the cage not looking, but did another 1x if the rat responded immediately (5x with success before moving on)
Never Mastered- Failed Trial #2
0. Fade to 1x when rat is across the cage not looking
If happened 5x with success then experiment would have been successful
Updated Procedure (Trial #3):
Reinforce 5x when the rat’s nose was at or in the magazine (5x before moving on)
1. Allow the rat to move a little farther away from the magazine and reinforce when it gets close to the magazine 2x (5x with success before moving on)
2. Fade to allowing the rat to move halfway across the cage and reinforce 2x when the rat looks at the magazine (5x with success before moving on)
3. Fade to allowing the rat to go to the other side of the cage and reinforce when the rat looks at the magazine 2x (5x with success before moving on)
4. Fade to 2x when the rat is across the cage and not looking at the magazine (5x with success before moving on)
5. Fade to 1x when the rat is across the cage not looking at the magazine, but another 1x is the rat responds immediately (5x with success before moving on)
MASTERED- PASSED- LAB SUCCESSFUL
0. Fade to 1x when the rat is across the cage not looking at the magazine (5x with success before moving on)
Never Mastered
Here’s the paper thus far:
CyberRat Lab Report #1: Magazine Training
Part One: Observation Notes
Before magazine training, the rat was observed for a 20-minute period in its new environment inside the experimental chamber. The testing chamber consisted of two glass walls, on the front and back sides, and two metal walls, on the right and left sides of the experimental chamber. The inside the chamber on the right metal wall there is the lever and magazine. The bottom of the chamber has metal bars and the ceiling is glass. During this observation time, the rat engaged in 10 different types of behavior. The rat stuck its nose between the bars on the bottom of the cage. There were some instances where the rat was rearing up on its back legs and moments where it pressed its paws against the glass walls of the experimental chamber. We also observed several instances of sniffing behavior which included, sniffing the ceiling, the magazine, its own tail, and the glass walls of the experimental chamber. There were also moments when the rat scratched itself on its stomach with its back paw. We also noticed that the rat was walking from one end of the experimental cage to the other. There were times were the rat would sit down and turn its head from side to side. It should be noted that we observed the rat put its paw on the level 4 times.
Part Two: Magazine Training
Our goal of magazine training was to get the rat to respond to the sound of the click by immediately orienting itself and moving straight to the magazine from the back of the cage. In our original strategy, the first step was to provide reinforcement when the rat’s head was inside or near the magazine. If the rat was near the magazine, but its head was not inside, we planned to provide additional reinforcement once the rat put its head inside of the magazine. We planned to do this a few times then move on to step two. During the second step, we allowed the rat to move its head away from the magazine but still relatively close in distance to the dipper. Once the rat’s head oriented itself toward the magazine, we planned to provide additional reinforcement once the rat put its head inside the magazine. This was repeated until the rat was consistently responding to the click immediately at that distance, then we planned to move on to step three. The third step was planned to allow the rat to move away from the magazine (halfway from the dipper) and when the rat oriented itself toward the magazine again, reinforcement would be delivered. Step three was repeated multiple times with the goal of increasing the rat’s distance from the dipper over time. Step four planned to repeat step three with the rat across the cage from the dipper until the rat responded to the click immediately from the back of the cage.
During magazine training, our original plan was updated and became more specific with reinforcement guidelines as we continued with our experiment. Our first issue was a vague plan that did not provide specific guidelines on when to move on to the next step. We started by providing reinforcement five times when the rat’s nose was at or in the magazine for the first five instances of this observed behavior. The second step was to allow the rat to move farther away from the magazine please add on to this paragraph as well.
In your next paragraph(s), describe in a step-by-step manner what actually occurred during the magazine training. The focus of this report is the “technological dimension” that you learned about from Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968). Explain in a clear and simple manner, using formal language. Be specific enough that your instructor knows what you did and what your rat did throughout the session. Use transition words such as “first”, “then”, “next”, “finally”. At each step, describe what you did (specifically) and what the rat did (specifically). If you ran into any problems, describe them. If you deviated from your strategy, indicate how and why. Be clear about the point at which the rat met the criterion. Please use the notes above to talk about the steps for the second and third trial. Be very clear and concise when explaining each trial.
****Please add to the conclusion below *****
The process of magazine training required three trials, totaling 1 hour and 30 minutes of experimental time. We delivered a total of 179 drops of water as reinforcement throughout the training process. The initial failures prompted us to refine our procedure, demonstrating the importance of adjusting reinforcement strategies based on the observed behaviors and outcomes. By systematically shaping the rat’s response to the click, we successfully established the click as a signal for the availability of water. We succeeded in our experiment and achieved the desired behavioral outcome.
