Blog post #5

A few weeks ago I attended the Richmond Science Museum with my daughter.  As soon as I read the shaping behavior text I knew exactly what my blog would be about.   One of the attractions at the museum was “rat basketball.”  Yes you heard me right, rat basketball.  The lady in charge explained exactly how they taught the rats to play.  I wish now I had listened more intently.  I do recall her saying that it took a few weeks and went very slow even though they used continuous reinforcement.   The training was done in several small stages using food as a positive reinforcer.  Once the rats mastered one skill they moved onto the next step.  Soon the rat learned to associate putting the ball though the hoop with getting food.  This is an example of operant conditioning and is similar to the example in the book where the rat steps on the bar to get food.  The trainer did say that not all of the rats were successful at associating their behavior with getting a treat.  Their training was stopped after several unsuccessful attempts.   I guess in this instance of the law of effect the favorable consequence was not enough to alter the rats behavior.   

The first link below is a YouTube of the rats playing basketball and the second link is of dogs learning to drive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBWw-VMHWnA

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/2012/12/13/what-is-operant-conditioning-and-how-does-it-explain-driving-dogs/