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.

Magazine Training

My first goal with Muffin was to magazine train her, to get her used to the operant box and associate that when the light in the box goes off she will receive food, and when she hears the noise after pressing the bar hard enough she will receive food. 
Muffin was food deprived to approximately 85% of her starting body weight. Her original body weight was 242 grams, my goal was to get her down to 210 grams. I know that sounds a little harsh, but Dr. Trench assured us this was a natural process that wild rats will go through at some point in their life and that this is not hurting her. It only took four days for Muffin to go from 242 grams to 212 grams (I wish I could lose weight like that!)
I began magazine training Muffin on September 19, 2011 with my professor Dr. Trench. The first day Muffin was in the operant box, she was not amused, to say the least. Although she was food deprived for eight days she did not seem interested when I rewarded her with sugar pellets. I pressed the hand switch to show her that when the light in the box turns off she would receive sugar pellets as a reward. There was also a noise from the dispenser that sounded when I pressed the hand switch. Muffin still seemed more interested in smelling the box and grooming herself rather than eat the sugar pellets. Dr. Trench and I magazine trained Muffin for 30 minutes and saw that she left quite a few pellets left in the food magazine. We decided to give her a break and try again on my own another day to see if she would become more interested.
Two days later I resumed Muffin's magazine training. She was much more alert and would eat the sugar pellets when I pressed the hand switch. 

This is Muffin! She was so excited to say "Hi" and get started for her first day of training :)

First Post Questions

1. What was your initial impression of rats, in general, before your first Learning lab?
My initial impression of rats was that they were disgusting creatures that were filled with diseases and only lived in sewers. (You just don't normally hear nice things about rats!)

2. Did this impression change by the end of the lab? Why or why not?
My view of rats did a complete 180 when I met the rats. They were actually kind of cute, but their tails still kind of bother me.

3. Were you able to hold your rat?
I was able to hold my rat, but right now she is very scared and she did pee on me. I still like her though.

4. Do you have any ideas for a name?
I am going to name my rat Miss Muffin.