Procedure: We used the program "Manual Shape" which allowed us control of dispensing pellets using a hand switch. Before we began we outlined a few small steps that we would reinforce before she ultimately pressed the bar. Keeping Pryor's ideas at heart, we decided to reinforce as follows:
1. Des was in the back right corner of the box.
2. Des reared up in the back right corner of the box.
3. Des put her nose above the bar.
4. Des touched the bar with one paw.
5. Des touched the bar with two paws.
6. Des pushed the bar.
We also decided that no matter what, we needed to train Despereaux in the same box every day. It was evident that she became much more distracted by the scents in the other box than her original one and her distraction was compromising her learning.
Observations and Discussion: Overall, shaping Despereaux took longer than I expected due to operant box problems and her frequently becoming distracted or uninterested. We manually shaped Despereaux for a total of 4 days (30 minutes each day) before we felt confident in placing her on the Fixed Ratio 1 (FR1) schedule. Shaping a live rat was different that what I thought it would be after reading the text. I was not expected Des to be so unfocused and distracted and did not think grooming would be as frequent as it was. It helped to have the steps outlined in advance because in the moment it is hard to distinguish when exactly to reinforce and when to move to the next step.
On the first day of shaping (9/23), we focused on the first three steps listed above and by the end of the training session Despereaux was doing a fairly good job of placing her nose above the bar. She received 65 reinforcements for her behaviors over a 30min time period and pressed the bar 1 time. It appeared that she was beginning to learn at this point!
We also decided that no matter what, we needed to train Despereaux in the same box every day. It was evident that she became much more distracted by the scents in the other box than her original one and her distraction was compromising her learning.
Observations and Discussion: Overall, shaping Despereaux took longer than I expected due to operant box problems and her frequently becoming distracted or uninterested. We manually shaped Despereaux for a total of 4 days (30 minutes each day) before we felt confident in placing her on the Fixed Ratio 1 (FR1) schedule. Shaping a live rat was different that what I thought it would be after reading the text. I was not expected Des to be so unfocused and distracted and did not think grooming would be as frequent as it was. It helped to have the steps outlined in advance because in the moment it is hard to distinguish when exactly to reinforce and when to move to the next step.
On the first day of shaping (9/23), we focused on the first three steps listed above and by the end of the training session Despereaux was doing a fairly good job of placing her nose above the bar. She received 65 reinforcements for her behaviors over a 30min time period and pressed the bar 1 time. It appeared that she was beginning to learn at this point!
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| Monday (9/23) |
On the second day of shaping, Despereaux was really beginning to catch on. We began the session by reinforcing her each time she placed her nose above the bar. After several minutes she was doing really well with this, so we began shaping her for rearing up over the bar. This was a little harder for her to catch on to, but she eventually did. We ended the session with her placing a paw on the bar without actually pressing it. Although she seemed to do better today, her behavior was still sporadic and she continued to groom quit a lot in between reinforcements.
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| Tuesday (9/24) |
Training continued on Wednesday with Logan and I optimistic with Despereaux continuing on to a consistent FR1 schedule. I was beginning to become discouraged because so many other groups were ahead of us and I felt like Des was not learning as quickly as the other rats. However, Despereaux showed some improvements throughout the session. Although she still became distracted by smelling and grooming, she consistently placed her head above the bar and placed her paws on the bar most of the time. She even pressed the bar once!!
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| Wednesday (9/25) |
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| Thursday (9/26) |
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