This experience did take a lot of time, but it was more of a benefit to my learning than a negative one. The most surprising part of this experience was how far Peaches was able to go in both of her reinforcement schedules. I never imagined that I would be so proud of a little rat! Even though we had to spend two days on a couple of levels, Peaches never fell behind in her training. She even showed new behaviors towards the end of her VR reinforcement schedule like rolling over and climbing and hanging on the house light of the operant box. This experience is the best way to really understand what this class is about and shows us the best way to train an animal, not to mention it gives you a great sense of achievement! I'm going to miss working with Peaches!
Monday, October 7, 2013
My Final Post
Although training Peaches was a lot of work and took a good amount of time I really did enjoy it. When her training was finished I had this huge sense of accomplishment, she was so successful with her training reaching FR10 in the fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement and VR10 in the variable ratio schedule of reinforcement. As she accomplished each level I realized that the reason she was so successful was because of the foundation we created during shaping. Pryor explains how important shaping is with her rules, but I was really able to see this by training Peaches. I wasn't just reading about how reinforcements affect an animal's behavior, I was able to see if first hand through Peaches. By going through this experience I felt that I got a full understanding of what I was learning by being able to relate the information back to examples with Peaches' training. I also really liked working with a partner, if I had questions I had someone that was there to help me understand the situation. If Peaches did something crazy I had a person who was there to witness it. Megan made an awesome partner and trainer, it was a give and take partnership that ultimately led to the successful training of Peaches.
Peaches vs. Sniffy
Overall shaping Sniffy took much longer than shaping Peaches, but reinforcing Peaches behavior in comparison to Sniffy took much longer.
Magazine Training:
The difference between magazine training Sniffy and Peaches was the amount of time it took. Sniffy took a much longer time to magazine train compared to Peaches. For Sniffy I was never sure if I was reinforcing her behavior at the right time and it took about 45 minutes to fully magazine train her. It was much easier to see when Peaches' behavior needed to be reinforced in order for her to realize that the magazine sound meant there was a pellet of food in the food hopper.
Shaping differences:
When shaping Sniffy it took me a couple of hours because I wasn't sure if I was doing it the right way. I had to take baby steps meaning that in the beginning I would reinforce Sniffy when she would rear up against the back wall of the operant box. Once she was rearing closer to the lever she would get a reinforcement and at times she would press the lever herself. Soon her bar-sound association grew and she began to realize that if she pressed the lever she would get a pellet of food. I would have to reinforce at times, but eventually Sniffy was pressing it consistently. After she was pressing the lever by herself, I just had to wait for her to be fully shaped and that part took the longest time because "fully shaped" for Sniffy was making sure that the bar-sound association and the action strength bars were at the max level.
For shaping Peaches, it took a two sessions (1 hour total) to fully shape her to press the lever in order for her to be reinforced. Megan and I didn't have to wait for bars to be at their max level in order to successfully move on to a reinforcement schedule. We had to figure it out by ourselves and if Peaches wasn't fully shaped than she couldn't move on to the fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement. It was much easier to see when Peaches was shaped compared to when Sniffy was shaped. Through Peaches behavior Megan and I could see that she had developed a strong bar-sound association, for Sniffy I had to wait for the bars to reach their max level.
Peaches Cumulative Record for FR5 (Peaches had to press the lever 5 times in order to get a reinforcement)
Strength of each experience:
Training Sniffy really helped in getting an understanding of what to look for in trying to successfully train Peaches, our live rat. With Sniffy, although it was a computer program, it allowed me to see what works for training and what doesn't. I knew that taking baby steps was very important, especially when shaping the rat to press the lever to get reinforced. With Peaches I was able to experience everything that Pryor talks about in her book. I was able to see how important it was to know her "rules of shaping." Everything we learned in class from Skinner and Thorndike we were able to adapt to our own rat and see how important reinforcement can be in learning a behavior.
I would recommend continuing to use both Sniffy and the real rat. Sniffy, although it was a computer program, was able to prepare me to see what training a live rat would be like. I felt much more prepared by completing the Sniffy program, but it also didn't seem fully realistic which is why I enjoyed training Peaches. With Peaches I was able to compare and contrast things that I had learned in class and the Pryor readings.
Weight Chart
Here is a weight chart showing how much Peaches weighed on a daily basis and how much she was fed depending on her weight. Her target weight and explanations for the amount of food provided to her are in bold.
Picture of her actual weight chart:
Extinction
Our Goal:
On October 4, our goal was to extinct the previously reinforced behavior of pressing the lever.
Extinction means that a previously reinforced behavior is never followed by reinforcers, therefore the overall effect is to reduce the frequency of the learned behavior.
Procedure:
The extinction session started at 8:47 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. Peaches weighed 210.4 grams, 2.4 grams below her target weight. She pressed the lever a total of 314 times and received 0 reinforcements.
On October 4, our goal was to extinct the previously reinforced behavior of pressing the lever.
Extinction means that a previously reinforced behavior is never followed by reinforcers, therefore the overall effect is to reduce the frequency of the learned behavior.
Procedure:
The extinction session started at 8:47 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. Peaches weighed 210.4 grams, 2.4 grams below her target weight. She pressed the lever a total of 314 times and received 0 reinforcements.
Results:
Within the first minute of the session Peaches pressed the lever 39 times meaning she experienced an extinction burst, an immediate effect of extinction which entails an abrupt increase in behavior. Megan and I counted the number of times Peaches' pressed the lever every 5 minutes of the 30 minute session. After 10 minutes and 165 lever presses, Peaches began climbing the operant box and hanging on to the house light. After 15 minutes, Peaches rolled over, a behavior she had shown in previous VR sessions. By the end of the session, Peaches would walk past the lever and not press it.
Peaches During Extinction
(This video displays Peaches continuously pressing the lever, pausing to see if a reinforcement has appeared then continuing to press the lever again. When she sees that no reinforcement appears she presses the lever more vigorously.)
Peaches Climbing the Box
(This video shows Peaches climbing the wall of the operant box and hanging onto the house light, which is placed above the food hopper. You can see Peaches even try to climb on the ceiling of the operant box, but she reaches too far and falls.)
Extinction Graph
(This graph shows how many times Peaches pressed the lever every 5 minutes during the session. It starts at a high number, decreasing, increasing and gradually decreasing in the second half of the session.)
Cumulative Record of Extinction
(From this picture you can see the extinction burst Peaches experienced at the beginning of the session)
Discussion:
Through out the session, Megan and I measured the number of times Peaches pressed the lever every 5 minutes of the 30 minute session. As the session went on, Peaches gradually began to press the lever less frequently. Therefore, the extinction session was successful. It might have been more successful if we had continued extinction for a second day and gotten to the point where Peaches was pressing the lever no more than 5 times every minute.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
VR7 and VR10
Our Goal:
On October 2, our goal was to put Peaches on the VR7 reinforcement schedule. On October 3, our goal was to put Peaches on the VR10 reinforcement schedule.
In a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement, instead of providing a reinforcer when a behavior has occurred a fixed number of times, it makes it possible to vary the requirement around some average. For example, instead of reinforcing every fifth lever press, it might reinforce after the second, the eighth, the sixth, the forth, or so on.
Procedure:
On October 2, the session started at 8:47 A.M and lasted 25 minutes and 8 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 651 times and she received 93 reinforcements. She weighed 216.8 grams, 4.8 grams above her target weight.
On October 3, the VR10 session started at 8:43 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. Peaches pressed the lever 893 times and received 89 reinforcements. She weighed 216 grams, 4 grams above her target weight.
Results:
In the VR7 session, Peaches went into the operant box she headed straight to the food hopper, she then moved to the lever. She pressed the lever rapidly and continued pressing it till she heard the magazine sound. In between long series of presses she would stop and look at the food hopper for a reinforcement, then would continue pressing the lever at a rapid pace limiting the number of PRPs (post-reinforcement pauses). One problem we were still dealing with is having to manually provide reinforcements because the magazine wouldn't do it when it rotated. Peaches also exhibited a new behavior, rolling over. She would grab onto the food hopper and twist her body so that she could look up the food hopper where the pellet would drop, then she would roll over so that she was back on her paws.
On October 2, our goal was to put Peaches on the VR7 reinforcement schedule. On October 3, our goal was to put Peaches on the VR10 reinforcement schedule.
In a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement, instead of providing a reinforcer when a behavior has occurred a fixed number of times, it makes it possible to vary the requirement around some average. For example, instead of reinforcing every fifth lever press, it might reinforce after the second, the eighth, the sixth, the forth, or so on.
Procedure:
On October 2, the session started at 8:47 A.M and lasted 25 minutes and 8 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 651 times and she received 93 reinforcements. She weighed 216.8 grams, 4.8 grams above her target weight.
On October 3, the VR10 session started at 8:43 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. Peaches pressed the lever 893 times and received 89 reinforcements. She weighed 216 grams, 4 grams above her target weight.
Results:
In the VR7 session, Peaches went into the operant box she headed straight to the food hopper, she then moved to the lever. She pressed the lever rapidly and continued pressing it till she heard the magazine sound. In between long series of presses she would stop and look at the food hopper for a reinforcement, then would continue pressing the lever at a rapid pace limiting the number of PRPs (post-reinforcement pauses). One problem we were still dealing with is having to manually provide reinforcements because the magazine wouldn't do it when it rotated. Peaches also exhibited a new behavior, rolling over. She would grab onto the food hopper and twist her body so that she could look up the food hopper where the pellet would drop, then she would roll over so that she was back on her paws.
Peaches Learning VR7 (In this video, you can see Peaches pressing the lever very rapidly then pausing to check the hopper then continuing to press in order to get reinforcement. You can also see me manually providing a reinforcement to Peaches)
During the VR10 session, Peaches explored the box before heading in the direction of the food hopper and lever. She experienced very rapid run rates, she would press the lever multiple times if no reinforcement was provided she would press the lever more rapidly until she heard the magazine. There was an absence of PRPs (post-reinforcement pauses). Once again, the magazine wouldn't always release pellets therefore we had to manually provide them.
Peaches Learning the VR10 schedule
VR10 Schedule (In this video, you can see Peaches pressing the lever rapidly, checking the hopper then continuing to press the lever at a more rapid rate. You can also see me having to manually provide Peaches with a reinforcement)
Cumulative Record for VR7
Cumulative Record for VR10
Discussion:
For both sessions, Peaches continued to press the lever until she was reinforced. Even if there was no reinforcement, she would press the lever at a more rapid rate until she was reinforced. Peaches progressed very rapidly through this schedule of reinforcement, we never had to spend more than one day on the same level. Through this schedule, Peaches PRPs began to appear less and less. It was as if she would get frustrated if she had pressed the lever for a certain number of times and not get reinforced she would press the lever even more rapidly thinking that it would provide a reinforcement faster. She even showed us a new behavior, rolling over.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Something New...VR3 and VR5
Our Goal:
On September 30, our original goal was to put Peaches on a VR5 reinforcement schedule, but we realized that we needed to put her on a VR3 schedule first in order for her to get use to this new schedule. On October 1, our goal was to put Peaches on a VR5 reinforcement schedule.
In a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement, instead of providing a reinforcer when a behavior has occurred a fixed number of times, it makes it possible to vary the requirement around some average. For example, instead of reinforcing every fifth lever press, it might reinforce after the second, the eighth, the sixth, the forth, or so on. So in a VR5 schedule, reinforcement might occur after one to ten lever presses, but the overall average will be one reinforcement for every five presses.
Procedure:
On September 30, VR5 session started at 8:47 A.M, after we realized the light above the lever was not on we put her on a VR3 schedule so she could get used to it. The VR3 session started at 9 A.M and lasted 21 minutes. Peaches pressed the lever 286 times and received 95 reinforcements. She weighed 217.7 grams, 5.7 grams above her target weight.
For the VR5 session when she was placed in the operant box, Peaches immediately went to the lever and began pressing it rapidly until she heard the sound of the magazine. While she was pressing she would place her head on the lever and keep it there for a couple of seconds then begin to press the lever with her paws again. Megan and I weren't sure why this was happening, but we believe that she might be doing it as a way to apply more pressure to the bar hoping that it would provide a reinforcement. During the session we ran into a little problem, when Peaches had pressed the lever enough times to get a reinforcement, the magazine sound would go off but no food pellet would appear. When Megan and I realized this, we began to listen to the "ping" of the food pellet and if we didn't hear it we would have to manually turn the magazine in order to reinforce Peaches. This could have been an issue because the sound of the magazine and the food pellet dropping weren't happening at the same time, which is what Peaches was used to. It ended up not effecting Peaches, because even after the reinforcement was in the food hopper she continued to press the lever. Another thing Peaches was doing today was pressing the lever twice and then would go to the food hopper to see if there was a reinforcement waiting for her. If there wasn't a reinforcement there, Peaches would immediately go back to the lever and begin pressing it until she heard the magazine. Megan and I thought this might have something to do with Dr. Trench using her for an example on September 30th for one of her classes and put her on an FR2 schedule.
Both days of training were successful. Although we ran into a few issues, once we realized that the light above the lever that would flash on the FR schedule wasn't working we moved her from the VR5 schedule to the VR3 schedule so she could get used to it. Today she didn't even look at the light above the lever, she focused on the house light that would flash when she was reinforced. For the VR3 schedule she seemed to take much longer PRPs compared to when she was on VR5, but that could be due to the fact that she was getting used to the new schedule. Even with the issues we faced, Peaches seemed to be able to adjust to the variable ratio schedule of reinforcement.
On September 30, our original goal was to put Peaches on a VR5 reinforcement schedule, but we realized that we needed to put her on a VR3 schedule first in order for her to get use to this new schedule. On October 1, our goal was to put Peaches on a VR5 reinforcement schedule.
In a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement, instead of providing a reinforcer when a behavior has occurred a fixed number of times, it makes it possible to vary the requirement around some average. For example, instead of reinforcing every fifth lever press, it might reinforce after the second, the eighth, the sixth, the forth, or so on. So in a VR5 schedule, reinforcement might occur after one to ten lever presses, but the overall average will be one reinforcement for every five presses.
Procedure:
On September 30, VR5 session started at 8:47 A.M, after we realized the light above the lever was not on we put her on a VR3 schedule so she could get used to it. The VR3 session started at 9 A.M and lasted 21 minutes. Peaches pressed the lever 286 times and received 95 reinforcements. She weighed 217.7 grams, 5.7 grams above her target weight.
On October 1, the VR5 session started at 8:52 A.M and lasted 22 minutes and 17 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 496 times and received 99 reinforcements. She weighed 220 grams, 8 grams above her target weight.
Results:
During the VR3 session, Peaches immediately had a quick rapid run rate, pressing the bar until the magazine was heard. When she was pressing the lever, she would look up at the light above it and it wasn't on (which is why we switched her from VR5 to VR3). Megan and I needed her to get used to pressing the lever without having to look at the light above it. The house light would blink when the magazine went off so after a couple minutes in the operant box she began to focus on that instead. She continued to have long PRPs (post-reinforcement pauses), just like in the last couple of session on the FR schedule. Her longest PRP was when we switched her from the VR5 to VR3 schedule, but once she was reinforced she began to continuously press the lever in order to get more reinforcements.
During the VR3 session, Peaches immediately had a quick rapid run rate, pressing the bar until the magazine was heard. When she was pressing the lever, she would look up at the light above it and it wasn't on (which is why we switched her from VR5 to VR3). Megan and I needed her to get used to pressing the lever without having to look at the light above it. The house light would blink when the magazine went off so after a couple minutes in the operant box she began to focus on that instead. She continued to have long PRPs (post-reinforcement pauses), just like in the last couple of session on the FR schedule. Her longest PRP was when we switched her from the VR5 to VR3 schedule, but once she was reinforced she began to continuously press the lever in order to get more reinforcements.
Peaches During VR3
Peaches Learning VR5
VR5 schedule (you can see Megan having to manually provide Peaches with a reinforcement)
Cumulative Record for VR3
Cumulative Record for VR5
Discussion:Both days of training were successful. Although we ran into a few issues, once we realized that the light above the lever that would flash on the FR schedule wasn't working we moved her from the VR5 schedule to the VR3 schedule so she could get used to it. Today she didn't even look at the light above the lever, she focused on the house light that would flash when she was reinforced. For the VR3 schedule she seemed to take much longer PRPs compared to when she was on VR5, but that could be due to the fact that she was getting used to the new schedule. Even with the issues we faced, Peaches seemed to be able to adjust to the variable ratio schedule of reinforcement.
Friday, September 27, 2013
FR10 (Graphs of presses/reinforcements per FR session)
Our Goal:
Today, our goal was to put Peaches on a FR10 schedule of reinforcement. (This is also her last day of fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement before we move her to variable schedule of reinforcement.)
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. Therefore, Peaches has to press the lever at least 10 times before receiving a reinforcement.
Procedure:
The session started at 8:38 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. This was the longest session so far in Peaches training. Peaches pressed the lever 717 times and received 72 reinforcements. She weighed 213.5 grams, 1.5 grams above her target weight.
Today, our goal was to put Peaches on a FR10 schedule of reinforcement. (This is also her last day of fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement before we move her to variable schedule of reinforcement.)
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. Therefore, Peaches has to press the lever at least 10 times before receiving a reinforcement.
Procedure:
The session started at 8:38 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. This was the longest session so far in Peaches training. Peaches pressed the lever 717 times and received 72 reinforcements. She weighed 213.5 grams, 1.5 grams above her target weight.
Results:
Peaches successfully learned the FR10 schedule of reinforcement. Peaches had very rapid run rates, which is the time between the end of the last post-reinforcement pause and a reinforcement. In her post-reinforcement pauses, which were longer compared to the previous sessions, she was rearing all over the box. She would jump and try and climb out of the box because it was taking so long for her to get a reinforcement. Peaches would go under and on top of the lever to see if that would give her a reinforcement faster. Megan and I could see this desperation of having to get a reinforcement in her behavior more today than the previous sessions.
Peaches Trying to Get Out of Box
Peaches during FR10 schedule
(you can see her rearing around the box and how quickly she presses the lever in order to reach the reinforcement rate)
Cumulative Record for FR10
Discussion:
Peaches was more active during the entire training session, but during her run rates she was consistently pressing the lever in order to get a reinforcement. Watching Peaches trying to get 10 lever presses was difficult for Megan and I because we didn't want Peaches to think that we didn't love her or want to reward her, but when we realized that we can't portray how we feel onto our rat.
The fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement is complete so next week we move on to a variable schedule of reinforcement to see how Peaches will do on a different reinforcement schedule. Peaches did incredibly well today! Good Job Peaches!
Graph of Number of Presses per Training Session (FR Schedule)
Graph of Number of Reinforcements per Training Session (FR Schedule)
FR5 and FR7
Our Goal:
On September 25, our goal was to put Peaches on a FR5 schedule of reinforcement. On September 26, our goal was to put Peaches on a FR7 schedule of reinforcement.
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. Therefore, on a FR5 schedule Peaches will have to press the lever at least 5 times in order to get a reinforcement and on a FR7 schedule Peaches will have to press the lever at least 7 times in order to get a reinforcement.
Procedure:
On September 25, the FR5 session started at 8:41 A.M and lasted 20 minutes and 48 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 390 times and received 78 reinforcements. She weighed 215.4 grams, 3.4 grams above her target weight.
On September 26, the FR7 session started at 8:48 A.M and lasted 27 minutes and 4 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 599 times and received 86 reinforcements. She weighed 214.9 grams, 2.9 grams above her target weight.
On September 25, our goal was to put Peaches on a FR5 schedule of reinforcement. On September 26, our goal was to put Peaches on a FR7 schedule of reinforcement.
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. Therefore, on a FR5 schedule Peaches will have to press the lever at least 5 times in order to get a reinforcement and on a FR7 schedule Peaches will have to press the lever at least 7 times in order to get a reinforcement.
Procedure:
On September 25, the FR5 session started at 8:41 A.M and lasted 20 minutes and 48 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 390 times and received 78 reinforcements. She weighed 215.4 grams, 3.4 grams above her target weight.
On September 26, the FR7 session started at 8:48 A.M and lasted 27 minutes and 4 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 599 times and received 86 reinforcements. She weighed 214.9 grams, 2.9 grams above her target weight.
Results:
During the FR5 session Peaches put her head to press the lever many times in a row, continuing to press the lever until she heard the magazine sound. Occasionally she would check the food hopper in between presses in order to see if there was a reinforcement waiting for her, when she saw there was nothing there she would continue to press the lever until she reached the reinforcement rate. Peaches had much longer post-reinforcement pauses (PRP), which is a pause after a reinforcement is received. She would explore the box more, usually going up to the glass or in a corner.
Peaches Learning FR5
During the FR7 session Peaches did a lot of the same things from her previous session, she would press the lever continuously at a rapid rate until she heard the magazine, she would roam around the cage for longer periods of time, and she was rearing on all over the cage. Multiple times she would rear in front of the lever, not pressing it, and she would rear in the middle of the cage. Megan and I thought this was due to frustration of having to press the lever more times in order to get a reinforcement compared to previous sessions. But one thing that was very clear in this session was the fact that it was much easier to see that Peaches couldn't predict the number of times she needed to press the lever in order to get a reinforcement. She just knew that she needed to keep pressing the lever until she heard the sound of the magazine.
Peaches During FR7 Post-Reinforcement Pause
Peaches Learning FR7
Peaches successfully completed both FR5 and FR7 schedules of reinforcement.
Discussion:
Peaches is progressing through FR schedule of reinforcement training very smoothly. She doesn't seem to be having a problem realizing that after a couple presses if a reinforcement isn't there that she needs to continue pressing the lever until she hears the magazine sound. She is being much more active in the box after she gets a reinforcement, roaming and rearing all over the box. We will continue to FR10 and once that is completed Megan and I have decided that we want to put Peaches on a variable schedule before extinction. Peaches is amazing and we are very proud of her :)
Cumulative Record for FR5
Cumulative Record for FR7
(If you look and compare the records you can see the longer PRPs in FR7. This session also lasted longer due to the number of reinforcements we wanted Peaches to reach before the session could end.)
Peaches is progressing through FR schedule of reinforcement training very smoothly. She doesn't seem to be having a problem realizing that after a couple presses if a reinforcement isn't there that she needs to continue pressing the lever until she hears the magazine sound. She is being much more active in the box after she gets a reinforcement, roaming and rearing all over the box. We will continue to FR10 and once that is completed Megan and I have decided that we want to put Peaches on a variable schedule before extinction. Peaches is amazing and we are very proud of her :)
One Little Problem....
After our training session on September 20, Megan and I decided that we were going to give Peaches her food for both Friday, the 20th, and Saturday so one of us wouldn't have to come in early on a day we weren't training. On Sunday, September 22, I went in to weigh and feed Peaches and saw that someone had fed her for Saturday, therefore Peaches got double her amount of food for two days. When I weighed her on Sunday she was 207.5 grams, 4.5 grams under her target weight so I fed her 13.6 grams since she was loosing so much weight since our last training session. On Monday, September 23, we went to weigh and feed Peaches and she weighed 222.2 grams, 10.2 grams above her target weight. Megan and I believe that with the extra food she was given and the amount of food she was given on Sunday, she might have been hoarding some in the bottom of her cage which we were unable to see because the food blends in with the bed of her cage. Luckily her vast weight gain didn't seem to effect her training, she still had plenty of room for all her sugar pellet reinforcers :)
weight chart Monday, September 23
weight chart on Friday, September 20
weight chart Monday, September 23
FR2 and FR3
Our Goal:
On September 23, Megan and I continued Peaches on a FR2 schedule due to the fact that Peaches was only on this schedule for 10 minutes in our last training session and we didn't want to move on before FR2 was fully completed. On September 24, we proceeded to FR3 schedule.
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. Therefore for FR3, Peaches had to learn that she needed to press the lever at least three times in order to get a reinforcement.
Procedure:
On September 23, the session started at 8:42 A.M, the session lasted for 22 minutes and 13 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 198 times and received 99 reinforcements. She weighed 222.2 grams, 10.2 grams above her target weight.
On September 24, the session started at 8:45 A.M and lasted for 20 minutes and 35 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 290 times and received 97 reinforcements. She weighed 217 grams, 5 grams above her target weight.
Peaches seem to adapt to both FR2 and FR3 schedules of reinforcement.
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Discussion:
By the end of both sessions she was pressing the lever two or three times in a row before she would approach the food hopper. Peaches continues to excel in her training, it takes a little time for her to adapt to the new level of reinforcement but once she figures it out she will continuously press the lever until she hears the magazine. One thing that was interesting though, in our FR3 session even though Peaches heard the magazine sound she continued to press the lever although food was in the hopper. Megan and I didn't know what to think about that. We knew she was fully trained to realize that when she heard the magazine food was in the hopper, but she seemed to continue just to collect a large amount of reinforcements at one time instead of just one after she met the reinforcement rate. We shall see if this behavior continues during her next sessions.
On September 23, Megan and I continued Peaches on a FR2 schedule due to the fact that Peaches was only on this schedule for 10 minutes in our last training session and we didn't want to move on before FR2 was fully completed. On September 24, we proceeded to FR3 schedule.
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. Therefore for FR3, Peaches had to learn that she needed to press the lever at least three times in order to get a reinforcement.
Procedure:
On September 23, the session started at 8:42 A.M, the session lasted for 22 minutes and 13 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 198 times and received 99 reinforcements. She weighed 222.2 grams, 10.2 grams above her target weight.
Results:
Peaches was placed in the FR2 schedule of reinforcement. When she was placed into the operant box she headed straight for the lever and immediately began to press it twice. She would press the bar two times in a row before going to the food hopper. Throughout the session she would even press the bar three times. She did seem to explore the box more compared to the FR1 schedule.
Peaches was placed on the FR3 schedule, once in the box she immediately went to the lever. She would press it once then look to see if there was a food pellet. When there was no reinforcement she pressed the lever again and looked for a food pellet, saw that there was again no reinforcement and proceeded to press the lever a third time. She then began to press the lever twice before looking in the food hopper, with no reinforcement she would press the lever once more. Four minutes into the session she was pressing the bar 3 or more times in a row. Peaches started to press the lever continuously even though she was hearing the magazine sound. Throughout the session she was having longer post-reinforcement pauses, which is a pause that follows a reinforcement. These usually occur because the animal is working so rapidly in order to get the reinforcement that it needs to take a "break". The break consists of roaming and exploring the box, which Peaches tended to do more on the FR3 schedule compared to the FR2 schedule.
Peaches was placed in the FR2 schedule of reinforcement. When she was placed into the operant box she headed straight for the lever and immediately began to press it twice. She would press the bar two times in a row before going to the food hopper. Throughout the session she would even press the bar three times. She did seem to explore the box more compared to the FR1 schedule.
Peaches during FR2 schedule (you can even see Megan waving in the background :) )
Peaches was placed on the FR3 schedule, once in the box she immediately went to the lever. She would press it once then look to see if there was a food pellet. When there was no reinforcement she pressed the lever again and looked for a food pellet, saw that there was again no reinforcement and proceeded to press the lever a third time. She then began to press the lever twice before looking in the food hopper, with no reinforcement she would press the lever once more. Four minutes into the session she was pressing the bar 3 or more times in a row. Peaches started to press the lever continuously even though she was hearing the magazine sound. Throughout the session she was having longer post-reinforcement pauses, which is a pause that follows a reinforcement. These usually occur because the animal is working so rapidly in order to get the reinforcement that it needs to take a "break". The break consists of roaming and exploring the box, which Peaches tended to do more on the FR3 schedule compared to the FR2 schedule.
Peaches During Post-Reinforcement Pause
Peaches learning FR3
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Cumulative Record for FR2 (Day 2)
Cumulative Record for FR3
By the end of both sessions she was pressing the lever two or three times in a row before she would approach the food hopper. Peaches continues to excel in her training, it takes a little time for her to adapt to the new level of reinforcement but once she figures it out she will continuously press the lever until she hears the magazine. One thing that was interesting though, in our FR3 session even though Peaches heard the magazine sound she continued to press the lever although food was in the hopper. Megan and I didn't know what to think about that. We knew she was fully trained to realize that when she heard the magazine food was in the hopper, but she seemed to continue just to collect a large amount of reinforcements at one time instead of just one after she met the reinforcement rate. We shall see if this behavior continues during her next sessions.
FR1 and FR2 schedule of reinforcement
Our Goal:
To continue to shape Peaches and to put Peaches on a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement (FR1 and FR2).
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. So for FR1 Peaches only had to hit the bar once in order to get reinforced, just like she did for shaping. But for FR2 Peaches had to hit the bar twice in order to get a reinforcement.
Procedure:
Megan was the trainer today, the training session started at 8:36 A.M (FR1) and 8:52 A.M (FR2). The FR1 session lasted 13 minutes and the FR2 session lasted 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 89 times (FR1) and 95 times (FR2). She got 4 reinforcers (FR1) and 0 reinforcers (FR2).
Results:
When Peaches was placed into the operant box she headed straight to the lever. She was pressing the lever consistently with her head and paw, she was no longer biting the bar like she did during shaping. She soon then began pressing the bar two times in a row, less than 5 minutes into the session she was at 31 presses. Since Peaches was doing so well Megan and I decided to move her to an FR2 schedule. We took her out of the operant box and set it up. Once she was back in the box she once again went straight to the lever, she pressed the lever and looked for food, when she realized that nothing was there she immediately pressed the bar again. She seemed to wander around the cage more, but after 2 minutes in the session she was pressing the lever two times in a row. Within 6 minutes of the session she had 53 lever presses.
Peaches was successfully shaped and completed two levels of fixed ratio schedule (FR1 and FR2).
Today was a very good training day, Peaches showed that she associated the sound of the magazine with food and had a strong bar sound association. She broke her habit of biting the bar that she seemed to develop during shaping, now using her paw and head. Even through out the day's session Peaches seemed to understand that if she used her paws more than her head she would be able to get her reinforcement more quickly. Hopefully the two days off won't cause Peaches to take steps backwards.
She did an amazing job today, hopefully it continues successfully from here!
To continue to shape Peaches and to put Peaches on a fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement (FR1 and FR2).
A fixed ratio schedule is a reinforcement schedule in which a behavior is reinforced when it occurs a fixed number of times. So for FR1 Peaches only had to hit the bar once in order to get reinforced, just like she did for shaping. But for FR2 Peaches had to hit the bar twice in order to get a reinforcement.
Procedure:
Megan was the trainer today, the training session started at 8:36 A.M (FR1) and 8:52 A.M (FR2). The FR1 session lasted 13 minutes and the FR2 session lasted 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Peaches pressed the lever 89 times (FR1) and 95 times (FR2). She got 4 reinforcers (FR1) and 0 reinforcers (FR2).
Results:
When Peaches was placed into the operant box she headed straight to the lever. She was pressing the lever consistently with her head and paw, she was no longer biting the bar like she did during shaping. She soon then began pressing the bar two times in a row, less than 5 minutes into the session she was at 31 presses. Since Peaches was doing so well Megan and I decided to move her to an FR2 schedule. We took her out of the operant box and set it up. Once she was back in the box she once again went straight to the lever, she pressed the lever and looked for food, when she realized that nothing was there she immediately pressed the bar again. She seemed to wander around the cage more, but after 2 minutes in the session she was pressing the lever two times in a row. Within 6 minutes of the session she had 53 lever presses.
Peaches During FR2
Peaches was successfully shaped and completed two levels of fixed ratio schedule (FR1 and FR2).
FR1 Cumulative Record
FR2 Cumulative Record
Discussion:Today was a very good training day, Peaches showed that she associated the sound of the magazine with food and had a strong bar sound association. She broke her habit of biting the bar that she seemed to develop during shaping, now using her paw and head. Even through out the day's session Peaches seemed to understand that if she used her paws more than her head she would be able to get her reinforcement more quickly. Hopefully the two days off won't cause Peaches to take steps backwards.
She did an amazing job today, hopefully it continues successfully from here!
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Shaping Peaches (day 2)
Our Goal:
To shape Peaches to press the lever in the Operant box in order to receive a pellet of food. Megan and I decided that we were going to put Peaches on a manual shaping schedule because she was biting the lever on Shaping Day 1.
Shaping is a training procedure in which the rat is provided a reinforcement of successive approximations of a desired behavior. Shaping makes it possible to establish a behavior in a few minutes that rarely or never occur spontaneously. Manual shaping means that instead of Peaches automatically getting a pellet every time the lever was pressed or pulled down, we would have to reward her by pressing the hand switch.
Procedure:
The shaping session started at 8:45 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. Peaches pressed the lever 36 times and received 56 reinforcements. She weighted 212.8 grams, .8 grams above her target weight. Megan was the trainer today and I was the observer.
Results:
When we put Peaches in the operant box she went straight to the lever, she would rear up over the lever and put her paws on it instead of her head. Although, when she wasn't reinforced right away she seemed to go back to her habit of biting the bar out of desperation to get food.
It was interesting to see how she knew that the lever was where she needed to be in order to get food, but we just had to get her to put her paw on the bar instead of biting it down. With 10 minutes left in the session she began to consistently press the lever to get food, a couple of those times she would bite the lever, but she would continuously have her paws on it. Towards the end of the session she seemed to have lost some focus because she was wondering around the box more instead of staying in the area with the lever. Peaches was reinforced 59 times and pressed the bar 36 times.
Discussion:
Although Peaches still tended to bite the lever down occasionally, she always seemed to have her paw on the bar. This could be due to higher number of reinforcements given today than on day one. She seemed to be able to understand that the lever is where she needed to go to get food and the only way to get it was to move the lever down. We still need to work on not getting her to bite the bar, so on day 3 we will continue to reinforce her paws on the bar, but today was a vast improvement.
To shape Peaches to press the lever in the Operant box in order to receive a pellet of food. Megan and I decided that we were going to put Peaches on a manual shaping schedule because she was biting the lever on Shaping Day 1.
Shaping is a training procedure in which the rat is provided a reinforcement of successive approximations of a desired behavior. Shaping makes it possible to establish a behavior in a few minutes that rarely or never occur spontaneously. Manual shaping means that instead of Peaches automatically getting a pellet every time the lever was pressed or pulled down, we would have to reward her by pressing the hand switch.
Procedure:
The shaping session started at 8:45 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. Peaches pressed the lever 36 times and received 56 reinforcements. She weighted 212.8 grams, .8 grams above her target weight. Megan was the trainer today and I was the observer.
Results:
When we put Peaches in the operant box she went straight to the lever, she would rear up over the lever and put her paws on it instead of her head. Although, when she wasn't reinforced right away she seemed to go back to her habit of biting the bar out of desperation to get food.
Peaches biting the lever
Peaches underneath lever, trying to bite it
It was interesting to see how she knew that the lever was where she needed to be in order to get food, but we just had to get her to put her paw on the bar instead of biting it down. With 10 minutes left in the session she began to consistently press the lever to get food, a couple of those times she would bite the lever, but she would continuously have her paws on it. Towards the end of the session she seemed to have lost some focus because she was wondering around the box more instead of staying in the area with the lever. Peaches was reinforced 59 times and pressed the bar 36 times.
Cumulative Record of Shaping Day 2
Peaches pushing lever down
Although Peaches still tended to bite the lever down occasionally, she always seemed to have her paw on the bar. This could be due to higher number of reinforcements given today than on day one. She seemed to be able to understand that the lever is where she needed to go to get food and the only way to get it was to move the lever down. We still need to work on not getting her to bite the bar, so on day 3 we will continue to reinforce her paws on the bar, but today was a vast improvement.
Shaping Peaches (day 1)
Our Goal:
To shape Peaches to press the lever in the Operant box in order to receive a pellet of food.
Shaping is a training procedure in which the rat is provided a reinforcement of successive approximations of a desired behavior. Shaping makes it possible to establish a behavior in a few minutes that rarely or never occur spontaneously.
Procedure:
The shaping session started at 8:50 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. On day 1 of shaping, I was the trainer and Megan was the observer. The purpose of our training session was the reinforce the magazine training done the day before, to reinforce Peaches moving her head to the left, turing left of the hopper, moving in front of the lever and putting her paw on the lever. Peaches weighted 213.6 grams, 1.6 grams above her target weight.
Results:
Peaches seemed to move to hopper during the reinforcement of magazine training and easily caught on to moving her head to the left. But for some reason she wanted to put her head on the lever rather than her paw. Even with her head on the lever she didn't push down on in, she would turn her body and bite the lever down in order to get food. This caused us to regress our training to having her get back in the corner of the opposite side of the box and press the hand switch to see if she would come due the hopper due to the sound. Once she was in front of the hopper she would move back to the lever, turning her body to bite and press the lever which worked several times in a row. Through out the session she was reinforced 39 times and pressed/bit the lever 6 times.
The results of putting her head on the lever and turning her body to bite the lever could possibly to due to the little number of reinforcements provided. Peaches seemed to have developed a significant sound-food association, but her bar sound association and her action strength didn't seem to have developed as quickly. She knew the area of the box she needed to be in in order to get food, but she didn't seem to understand the concept of pressing down on the lever to get food. She found another way to get the lever to move...bite it. We are going to have to take a couple steps back on Shaping Day 2 and try to significantly reinforce Peaches putting her paws on the lever to get food instead of biting the it.
To shape Peaches to press the lever in the Operant box in order to receive a pellet of food.
Shaping is a training procedure in which the rat is provided a reinforcement of successive approximations of a desired behavior. Shaping makes it possible to establish a behavior in a few minutes that rarely or never occur spontaneously.
Procedure:
The shaping session started at 8:50 A.M and lasted 30 minutes. On day 1 of shaping, I was the trainer and Megan was the observer. The purpose of our training session was the reinforce the magazine training done the day before, to reinforce Peaches moving her head to the left, turing left of the hopper, moving in front of the lever and putting her paw on the lever. Peaches weighted 213.6 grams, 1.6 grams above her target weight.
Results:
Peaches seemed to move to hopper during the reinforcement of magazine training and easily caught on to moving her head to the left. But for some reason she wanted to put her head on the lever rather than her paw. Even with her head on the lever she didn't push down on in, she would turn her body and bite the lever down in order to get food. This caused us to regress our training to having her get back in the corner of the opposite side of the box and press the hand switch to see if she would come due the hopper due to the sound. Once she was in front of the hopper she would move back to the lever, turning her body to bite and press the lever which worked several times in a row. Through out the session she was reinforced 39 times and pressed/bit the lever 6 times.
Beginning of Shaping Peaches
Discussion:
Cumulative Record of Shaping (Day 1)
The results of putting her head on the lever and turning her body to bite the lever could possibly to due to the little number of reinforcements provided. Peaches seemed to have developed a significant sound-food association, but her bar sound association and her action strength didn't seem to have developed as quickly. She knew the area of the box she needed to be in in order to get food, but she didn't seem to understand the concept of pressing down on the lever to get food. She found another way to get the lever to move...bite it. We are going to have to take a couple steps back on Shaping Day 2 and try to significantly reinforce Peaches putting her paws on the lever to get food instead of biting the it.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Magazine Training Day 1 (Peaches)
Today was the beginning of training Peaches!!!! Just like the Sniffy program Megan and I began the process with magazine training...
Our Goal:
To magazine train (classically condition an association between the sound of the food magazine and delivery of the food) Peaches. The purpose of my session today was to condition Peaches to approach the food magazine each time Megan or myself pressed the hand switch.
Operant Box
Procedure:
Peaches was food deprived to 90% of her starting body weight (235.5 grams) and weighted 207.6 grams, 4.4 grams below her target weight (212 grams). Daily sessions will be at 8:45 AM, but today our first session began at 11:52 AM. Today Megan was the trainer and I was the observer, once Peaches was in the operant box Megan immediately pressed the hand switch to deliver a food pellet in the food magazine. But we hit a tiny little issue...the food magazine would make the noise, but no pellet would appear. Megan pressed the hand switch a second time and then a third time, but there was still no luck. Then we proceeded to take Peaches out of the box so we would take the food magazine appear in order to try and fix it. Once it was all put back together Peaches was placed back into the box and the training began again. Megan pressed the hand switch again and a pellet appeared for Peaches, we waited for her to find it and eat it. Then after she took her head out of the food magazine Megan pressed the hand switch again and we waited to see if she ate it. The magazine training continued for about 24 minutes and 50 food pellets were presented to Peaches.
Megan pressed the hand switch when Peaches would be on the other side of the box, opposite of the food magazine to see if she would approach it and she did. From this we believed that Peaches was beginning to develop a sound-food association. After this step we then began to reward Peaches when she would move her head to the left of the food magazine close to the bar. Sometimes she would press the bar herself. Megan then began to press the hand switch when Peaches was on the way down from rearing in the area of the bar. By the end of the session Peaches pressed the bar 12 times on her own.
Discussion:
By the end of the session Peaches seemed to have developed a decent association between the sound of the food magazine delivery and the presentation of the food. We have to work in a new operant box tomorrow so we may have to take a couple steps backwards and retrain her so she can get used to the new box. Over all Peaches seems to be developing a strong sound-food association, the stronger the association the easier it will be to shape her to press the bar. I believe that we will be able to get a little farther with her training if we use the full 30 minutes.
Great start today Peaches pressing the bar on your own 12 times!!
Monday, September 16, 2013
Training Preparation (Sniffy)
In order to train Peaches properly we are using a program called Sniffy, the virtual rat. This program provides us with some idea of how to magazine train, shape, reinforce, and extinction our real rats. The first step of "Sniffy Training" is magazine training, which presents the food pellets, the primary reinforcer, in a way for Sniffy to learn to associate the sound of the magazine, the secondary reinforcer, with the availability of a food pellet in the food hopper. So essentially every time Sniffy turned in the direction of the food hopper, which is placed in the middle of the operant box, I would hit my space bar so that a food pellet would be presented to her. After a certain amount of time the program then proceeded to tell me that Sniffy had developed an association between the sound of the hopper and the food. Once this happened I began the shaping process. Shaping is a procedure used to train an animal to do something by reinforcing successful tries of the targeted behavior, getting Sniffy to press the bar. In order to do this every time Sniffy reared up against the back wall no matter how close or far away she was from the hopper I had to reward her. After she started to develop a Bar Sound and Action Strength Association, I created mental sections of the box, mean whenever Sniffy was in the certain section I would reinforce the behavior by providing a food pellet. Soon after her bar sound association began to develop more and she was pressing the bar on her own. Occasionally I would have to reinforce, but after a certain point Sniffy was pressing the bar at least 20 times during each 5-minute interval. Here are some pictures...
The magazine training was pretty easy, I tried to take as many baby steps as I could. A couple of times I pressed the bar when I shouldn't have just because of reflexes, but her Sound Food Association developed quickly. It was more of the shaping that I had a difficult time with because I was never sure if I was reinforcing her rearing on the back wall enough, so since I was so unsure I started over. The second time I started the shaping process I made sure to reinforce her rearing on any part of the back wall. Once I saw that her bar sound and action strength were developing I created the mental sections in the box and limited my reinforcements. Soon after that she was pressing the bar on her own and I was one proud mama! The shaping process took me a little over an hour and a half just because I restarted.
Once I had shaped Sniffy properly, meaning she was pressing the bar on her own at least 20 times every 5-minute interval, I put her on a variable-interval (VI) of 20 seconds schedule. This is a type of reinforcement scheduling which provides a time interval following reinforcement that must pass before the next response is reinforced. I decided to do a time interval of 20 seconds. At first Sniffy was pressing the bar and expecting food, but when it didn't come she continued to press the bar multiple times then stopped to check for food. Sniffy seemed to get a little frustrated if food wouldn't appear after pressing the bar several times since she was so used to getting food after every single time she pressed the bar. If a food pellet was not presented she continued to press the bar until she heard that sound. This continued for a good amount of time, then once Sniffy realized that food wasn't coming out of the hopper every time she pressed the bar she started to walk around the box more like she did when she was being magazine trained. Time continued to pass and she developed a slow steady response to the variable-interval schedule.
After going through this process I feel much more comfortable and confident in being able to train Peaches properly. I know I can't sit around for hours feeding Peaches like I could for Sniffy, but I believe I have a much better feel for what I will have to do in comparison to not using the program at all. Tomorrow is the beginning of training for Peaches and I'm so excited!
Once I had shaped Sniffy properly, meaning she was pressing the bar on her own at least 20 times every 5-minute interval, I put her on a variable-interval (VI) of 20 seconds schedule. This is a type of reinforcement scheduling which provides a time interval following reinforcement that must pass before the next response is reinforced. I decided to do a time interval of 20 seconds. At first Sniffy was pressing the bar and expecting food, but when it didn't come she continued to press the bar multiple times then stopped to check for food. Sniffy seemed to get a little frustrated if food wouldn't appear after pressing the bar several times since she was so used to getting food after every single time she pressed the bar. If a food pellet was not presented she continued to press the bar until she heard that sound. This continued for a good amount of time, then once Sniffy realized that food wasn't coming out of the hopper every time she pressed the bar she started to walk around the box more like she did when she was being magazine trained. Time continued to pass and she developed a slow steady response to the variable-interval schedule.
After going through this process I feel much more comfortable and confident in being able to train Peaches properly. I know I can't sit around for hours feeding Peaches like I could for Sniffy, but I believe I have a much better feel for what I will have to do in comparison to not using the program at all. Tomorrow is the beginning of training for Peaches and I'm so excited!
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
The Day We Met...
So this blog is all about the sweetest rat around BSC's campus, Peaches. Today was our class' first encounter with the lab rats, they were a little bigger than I expected but still as cute as a button. After seeing them I knew when I finally meet my Peaches that it would be love at first sight. No, Peaches was a little nervous but that was to be expected. When my partner, Megan, handed her to me Peaches tried to run for her life, but I got a hold of her and brought her close to my body. She seemed to calm down when she realized that I wasn't a threat and she was safe. I rubbed the top of her head with my finger and made a little sound hoping to calm her down some more. I knew the second I held her that Megan and I had picked the right name because her fur was just as soft as peach fuzz :). The rest of the week Megan and I will be going in every day or so to visit and hold her so she will be easier to train. More tales and pictures of Peaches to come!
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