Fixed Ratio 5

Date: 10/2/13

Start Time: 2:12

End Time: 2:32

Session Duration: 30:00

Number of Bar Presses: 407

Number of Rewards: 81

Snickerpuss’ Weight: 209

Goal:

Our goal was to train Snickerpuss to respond on a Fixed Ratio 5 schedule. On the FR-5 schedule Nicky would be rewarded for every five 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:

Nicky weighed 209 grams again, which is exactly her target weight, on the day of training.

For the ninth day of training, we put Nicky on an FR-5 schedule, which would reward her for every five 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:

Nicky pressed the lever 407 times during our 30 minute training session, resulting in 81 rewards. Nicky’s continued learning was evident again today – she almost doubled the number of bar presses from her training session yesterday (206 bar presses to 407). We considered Nicky to have learned the FR-5 schedule of reinforcement because she responded at a rate that resulted in more than 60 rewards for the 30 minute session.

Discussion:

            Nicky demonstrated her ability to learn again today – she began to press the lever repeatedly until a reward was delivered rather than check for a reward between lever presses until one appeared. We consider this to be a big step in the learning process because she has truly learned to associate the sound of the food dispenser with a reward rather than the act of pressing the lever with a reward. She exhibited less self-grooming behavior and other frustration behaviors, which may have been a result of her new association with the sound of the food dispenser and a reward. If she had learned to not expect a reward each time she pressed the lever she would be less stressed during the training sessions. Although her frustration behavior diminished today, Nicky still spent time in the front corner of the box, which has proven to be a distraction for her before. Towards the end of the training session, Nicky’s behavior began to diminish in frequency. Since Nicky was again successful in achieving her goal for the day, will move up to an FR-7 schedule of reinforcement for our next training session.

Cumulative Record for Fixed Ratio 5