Fixed Ratio 10

Date: 10/4/13

Start Time: 9:13

End Time: 9:43

Session Duration: 30:00

Number of Bar Presses: 237

Number of Rewards: 23

Snickerpuss’ Weight: 211

FR-10 Day 2:

Date: 10/5/13

Start Time: 2:09

End Time: 2:39

Session Duration: 30:00

Number of Bar Presses: 431

Number of Rewards: 43

Snickerpuss’ Weight: 206

Goal:

Our goal was to train Snickerpuss to respond on a Fixed Ratio 10 schedule. On the FR-10 schedule Nicky would be rewarded for every ten times she pressed the lever. We would consider Nicky to have successfully learned this reinforcement schedule if she achieved 60 rewards presses (one per 30 seconds of training).

Procedure:

FR-10 Day 1:

Nicky weighed 211 grams, which is two grams above her target weight, on the day of training.

For the eleventh day of training, we put Nicky on an FR-10 schedule, which would reward her for every ten lever presses. Since lever pressing was an automatic reinforcer, we were able to observe Nicky’s behavior while she was inside the operant box.

FR-10 Day 2:

Nicky weighed 206 grams, which is three grams below her target weight, on the day of training.

For the twelfth day of training, we again put Nicky on an FR-10 schedule, which would reward her for every ten lever presses. Since lever pressing was an automatic reinforcer, we were able to observe Nicky’s behavior while she was inside the operant box.

Results:

FR-10 Day 1:

Nicky pressed the lever 237 times during our 30 minute training session, resulting in 23 rewards. We did not consider Nicky to have learned the FR-10 schedule of reinforcement because she responded at a rate that resulted in much less than 60 rewards for the 30 minute session. Therefore we decided to repeat the FR-10 schedule again to see if a second day of training would increase response rate.

FR-10 Day 2:

Nicky pressed the lever 431 times during our 30 minute training session, resulting in 43 rewards. While Nicky was more successful on the second attempt at FR-10, we still did not consider her to have learned the FR-10 schedule of reinforcement because she responded at a rate that resulted in less than 60 rewards for the 30 minute session.

Discussion:

            The FR-10 schedule is the first training since shaping to give Nicky problems. Consistent with her previous behavior where she became easily distracted, it seemed that the 10 bar presses required for a reward were too much to keep the attention of our active rat. She began to engage in self-grooming behavior again, signifying frustration. While neither day was considered a success by our preset goal, Nicky did seem to learn from day one to day two of FR-10 training. The results of our first day of training may also be a product of a different training time. Due to a Cross Country meet I was racing in, Olivia and I decided to train Nicky early in the morning. She seemed to be less active at 9 A.M. than she usually is at 2 P.M. Since Nicky did not learn FR-10 according to our goal we decided to move on to Extinction for our next two training sessions

Cumulative Record for Fixed Ratio 10, Day 1

Cumulative Record for Fixed Ratio 10, Day 2