Final Post

 

I had to include our sweet family photo for my final blog post! Emma and I have had so much fun training Q-Tip. It was such a rewarding and intriguing experience. I really enjoyed having a partner throughout this process. It made training go more smoothly. When one of us were unavailable, the other partner was able to step up and continue training. I did not have any complaints during this process. Q-Tip's training flowed really well, and we were able to constantly stay on track. Dr. Trench was super helpful by starting each class period with allowing questions about our rats and training. During training, it was surprising to see how Q-Tip maintained her interest in the lever as her schedules increased. I was sure that she would fall behind, and we would have to repeat certain schedules. However, I was amazed at how smart she was during training (and still is!). I was nervous about how I would feel taking care of Q-Tip and having to interact with her at first. But my perception of rats was super biased. I am so happy that I was able to experience this project, and now I adore my sweet, little Q-Tip!

Extinction

Q-Tip responded well to extinction. As you can see in our tables, we observed two extinction bursts. One occurred at 20 minutes on day 1, and the other occurred at 15 minutes on day 2. The extinction burst on day 2 occurred on a smaller scale than the first one. We did not observe a spontaneous recovery on day 2. Q-Tip seemed to recall what happened on day 1, so her interest was already significantly lower at the start of day 2. Overall I think Q-Tip successfully completed extinction at an impressive rate.

 

Weight Chart

 

Graph of Average # of Responses per Training Session

 

Training Problem

 The only problem that we encountered while training was Q-Tip's attempts to escape the operant box. Every now and then we would hear a loud noise and see Q-Tip mid-jump. She was trying to reach the hole at the top of the box. This behavior started during FR10 and persisted through the rest of her schedules. We ended up placing a clipboard over the hole at the top of the operant box, so Q-Tip would not view it as a way out. This seemed to discourage her jumping behavior. I do not think we could have prevented this behavior in any way simply because rats are sneaky creatures who like to find escape routes. When we told Dr. Trench, she informed us that a student from a previous term faced the same problem, and their rat actually did jump out! This problem was just a result of Q-Tip's nature. Training wise, our sessions went incredibly smooth. I do not think we would choose to change anything. Q-Tip worked hard, and we were able to move through all of the schedules seamlessly.

FR20 & Q-Tip's Last Day of Training!

 We ended Q-Tip's training on FR20! I was able to bring a visitor, my sister, to meet Q-Tip to celebrate her hard work. For her final training session, she pressed the lever 802 times. She finished strong! We are so proud of her and her continued determination to press the lever. After reviewing all of her training sessions, she reached her highest amount of lever presses on FR18 with 933 presses. Behavior wise, Emma and I observed that Q-Tip was very steady in her responses throughout all of her training sessions. It seemed that her response level adjusted each time to the higher schedules, and we never had to repeat a schedule.

FR18

 

I had to start the post with a fun self timer picture I took with Q-Tip! It looks like she posed with me! I am giving Q-Tip a thumbs up because she is still doing great on her schedules. FR18 did not phase Q-Tip, and she ended up pressing the lever 933 times! I am always proud of Q-Tip's determination.

FR15

 FR15 went smoothly, and Q-Tip adjusted well. We have not had to repeat any schedules due to Q-Tip's eagerness. She pressed the lever 729 times in 30 minutes. Emma and I just have to keep watch to make sure Q-Tip does not attempt a sneaky escape out of the operant box! Other than that, she is ready for FR18!

FR12

 Q-Tip was able to move onto FR12! She still showed great interest in pressing the lever. She pressed it 815 times during her training session. She is still jumping to the top of the cage and pressing the lever in silly ways. It is super fun to watch!