Shaping

Shaping Day 1

I began shaping Muffin by reinforcing her every time she was in the same corner as the lever and the food magazine. This took some getting use to, but by the end of the session she began to associate the corner with being reinforced with the sugar pellets. She was very interested in the light above the lever and stood on the lever resulting in two lever presses, which I rewarded her with extra pellets. This session lasted 20 minutes and Muffin was reinforced 146 times. I ended the session early because she seemed to lose interest.

(Sorry it's sideways!)

Shaping Day 2

Instead of reinforcing Muffin for being in the corner near the lever, I started reinforcing for every sniff or touch of the bar. She quickly caught on and as soon as her nose touched the bar she immediately looked in the food magazine anticipating her reward. This session lasted 25 minutes. I thought we should end on a good note since she caught on so quickly to the bar sniffs and touches. She pressed the bar 4 times and she was reinforced 151 times for her sniffs and touches.

Shaping Day 3

On this day Muffin was reinforced for only touching the bar and not for sniffing the bar. This took some time because every time she sniffed the bar she would look in the food magazine for a reinforcement. She started to get frustrated and try other things such as biting the bar. I wanted to move in baby steps so she was reinforced whenever she bit the bar, stood on it, or touched it. This resulted in her pressing the bar 32 times and was reinforced 42 times throughout the session. It lasted 26 minutes until she was satiated and no longer went near the bar.

Shaping Day 4

This was Muffin’s big day. My goal was to see if she was ready to get started on a FR schedule and not have to press my hand switch, but let her press the bar to get reinforcement. After she was in the operant box for a minute she did not go near the bar, so I pressed the hand switch to get her attention. She soon began to press the lever, about 10 times, until she seemed uninterested again. I was worried that maybe she maybe satiated so I pressed the hand switch again and she went back to pressing the bar. This behavior happened sever times so it was decided that Muffin was not ready for a FR schedule. This session lasted the full 30 minutes and was reinforced by me 8 times while she pressed the bar 57 times.

Shaping Day 5

Once again I wanted to see if Muffin was ready for a FR schedule. This time she proved to me she was definitely ready. There was no need for me to press the hand switch. As soon as Muffin jumped into her operant box she began pressing the bar on her own and after 22 minutes she had pressed the bar 102 times. I decided to end on a good note and start with her FR schedule the next day.