Sniffy report - training the rat PDF

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training the rat ...

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PRAC GROUP: NAME: Sophie Cox

STUDENT NUMBER: 19946843

Animal Behaviour and Training Analysis of the experiments

1. Briefly describe an example of both types of conditioning (classical and operant): (a) As used in the Sniffy training session; (b) As used by animal trainers (for the training of, for example, livestock, zoo animals, companion animals); (c) As experienced by animals in the wild (NOT wild animals in captivity!). In each of your examples, identify key factors such as unconditioned and conditioned stimuli and responses, positive and/or negative reinforcement or punishment etc. Note: Your answer to this question should contain 6 examples! The first task with sniffy in the experiment was to magazine train him so that it made an association between the food and the sound of the bell. At the back of the skinner box is where the hopper This took about 20 minutes to do. Every time sniffy was close to the bar or rearing up at the back I pressed the bar to ring the ball and deliver the food out of the hopper. The reputation of the positive reinforcement of sniffy proved that there was association between the bar, bell and certain behaviors. Operant conditioning refers to the increasing rate at which a response occurs (Hergenhahn and Olson, 2005). In our experiment with Sniffy the computerized rat the operant would reward sniffy with a food pellet. Through the observing of sniffy, three behaviors were watched closely and rewarded when sniffy did them, the three behaviors were bar pressing, rearing and grooming. The virtual Rat behaviors were closely watched and rewarded when then Rewarded. Animal trainers e.g. in dog shows or horse jumping shows, treat their animals when they have completed the task to a certain level. Classical conditioning is proven that learning can occur when two incentives are repeatedly paired without reward or punishment. This may be known as the stimulus, during classical conditioning the learning is based upon three stimuli types. Unconditional Stimuli, neutral stimuli and unconditional response are being repeated the responses become the conditional stimuli and the unconditional response. For example, the food which is the unconditional stimuli, was paired with a bell conditional stimulus which was rewarded when sniffy pressed the buzzer he heard the bell which meant he got food. Animal Trainers may use classical conditioning is when an animal needs strict training or socialization situations.

Figure 1 Sniffy in operant box The Operant Associations Mind window is a helpful tool when training a virtual animal, but in real life a researcher or trainer is not able to see in the ‘mind’ of the animal. He or she will only have behavioral observations available. Use your own cumulative records, visual observations and the behavior repertoire data collected during the Sniffy session to answer the following questions. Include accurate terminology where relevant.

2. Use the cumulative record and your visual observations to explain the shaping process of Sniffy (experiment 2). Explain what your cumulative record is showing and how it reflects the shaping process. How does the cumulative record change during the course of the experiment and what does that signify? Tip: Look at the slopes of the cumulative record!

Figures 2 The first picture is showing me the experimenter pressing the hopper when sniffy has made an appropriate action. The figure above shows the start of the shaping stage of the experiment. Sniffy started to press the button alone. The screenshot of the page shows sniffy has fully leant the association between food and the bar pressing. The bar graph shows the strength and the amount of times sniffy does the appropriate action. Shaping occurs when sniffy, the virtual rat learns to press the bar on its own. Through the actions that the experimenter wants sniffy was reinforced through the magazine and sound of the bell to let it know that there was food which is positive reinforcement. Every time the rat completed the appropriate behavior Sniffy was rewarded, slowly but surely Sniffy was reinforced in specific areas about what was appropriate. In the graph shown above sniffy learnt in the end that when he would press the bar the reward would come. Sniffy in the three stages of the experiment, untrained, magazine trained and shaped changed his habits.

3. Compare the behaviour repertoire of the shaped Sniffy (experiment 2) with that of an untrained Sniffy and a magazine-trained Sniffy (experiment 1).  Select a behaviour that increased in frequency (for the shaped Sniffy compared to the untrained and magazine-trained animal), one that decreased in frequency and one that stayed approximately the same, and depict the values of these three behaviours in the three conditions in a column graph. You

can either make one column graph like Figure 7 in the Sniffy manual, or three separate column graphs, one for each selected behaviour.  Explain the differences you observed. (Why did the one behavior increase in frequency? Why did the one behaviour decrease in frequency? Why didn’t the one behavior change?)

behaviour repertoire chart 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

UNTRAINED

MAGAZINE TRAINED BAR PRESSING

REARING

SHAPING

GROOMING

Behavior repertoire of sniffy through the first three steps of the experiment are shown above to change as sniffy was learning. Bar pressing increased in frequency throughout the different stages of the experiment until the extinction stage this was the behavior that we wanted to train sniffy to do the most. The graph shows the frequency of the activities that we were testing in the experiment. You can see that the bar pressing increased in frequency as we trained sniffy that that was an appropriate behavior. From the untrained stage to the shaping stage sniffy increased in the behaviors that we were targeting in the experiment and not grooming him self as much as he knew he wasn’t going to get rewarded for it. Sniffy kept a steady medium with the rearing throughout the three steps, as for bar pressing that dramatically increased quickly when he learnt that there was food going to come out of the hopper if he pressed it. Grooming himself kept a happy medium until there were more important things to worry about like getting food from the hopper. Magazine trained sniffy had an overall similar average of the time completing tasks then the trained sniffy and the shaping sniffy.

4. Use the cumulative records and your visual observations to describe what happened in experiments 3 to 6 (extinction, removal of the primary reinforcer, second extinction session, punishment). Explain what each of your four cumulative records is showing and how they reflect the respective processes. How do the four experiments compare? Tip: The questions in your Sniffy manual give you clues as to what to include in your answer here.

The extinction stage of the experiment the places where the line jolts is where sniffy has pressed the hopper to receive food of which none is delivered. Extinction was the first part of the next stage of the experiment. When the rats behavior was extinguished it came to the realization that the pressing the bar for the positive reinforcement, to then not be rewarded which is called the removal of the primary reinforcer, would take place. The second extinction session was where the spontaneous recovery, sniffy was removed from the skinner box for a time out. The second extinction sniffy behaved the same way as in the first extinction, with what we trained him to do , press the hopper all by himself to get food, still didn’t work, after multiple attempts to get food sniffy started to walk more around the operant box. This allowed the virtual rat to then proceeded onto the next stage of the experiment. The punishment was a shock from the wall of the skinner box. Sniffy didn’t like this at all. He would jump and squirm for a couple of second before he would get back up and press the bar a few times before learning that that was not an appropriate behavior.

5. How do the behaviour repertoires recorded for these four experiments (3-6) compare with the behaviour repertoire of an untrained Sniffy? Explain. Sniffy used the behaviors that he learnt in the first three stages if the experiment he expects for them to continue with the same benefit. The environmental and behavioral characteristics for the way sniffy acted throughout the experiment were visibly different through the last three sections of the experiment, extinction, time out, second extinction and the punishment stages. Untrained sniffy behaved different to the shaped sniffy. His actions and behaviors changed to elevate the awareness of the sections of the operant box. Although the sniffy experiment was only done on a computer different rats act different under different circumstances, alike humans and most animals.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Groef, B. (2019). AGR1AAS. Animal Behaviour and training sniffy. Retrieved from Agricultural Sciences https://lms.latrobe.edu.au/pluginfile.php/4065068/mod_resource/content/6/Animal%20Learning.pdf Geneva International Centre for humanitarian demining. (2003). Mine Detection Dogs: Training, Operations and Odour Detection. Retrieved from https://www.gichd.org/resources/publications/detail/publication/mine-detection-dogs-training-operationsand-odour-detection/#.XMqYi-gzbIW University of Arizona. Collage of Agriculture and Life sciences. (2007). Backyards & Beyond. Living in rural Arizona. https://cals.arizona.edu/backyards/sites/cals.arizona.edu.backyards/files/07winter.pdf...