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.
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