Steven I. Dworkin, Ph.D. Office Hours by Appointment
UNCW Office SBS 105F Phone: 962-7378
UNCW Laboratory PPH Phone: 962-7845
email: dworkins@uncw.edu
home page: www.uncwil.edu/people/dworkins/sid.htm
PSY 417 - 001 Monday-Tuesday 12:30-4:50
SBS 220, 223
Introduction to Learning and Behavior (2005). Powell, Symbaluk and
Macdonald, Wadsworth
.
Other Readings:
Selected Journal Articles
Course Objectives and Responsibilities:
This course provides an advanced undergraduate level overview of the experimental analysis of behavior. The course includes classroom readings, discussions and presentations as well as laboratory research experience in the analysis of behavior. We will peruse the fascinating scientific field of learning and behavior by covering both the basic sciences and applied aspects of the field. We will cover its unique history within the field of psychology as well as focus on advanced issues within the area. You will be exposed to most of the major content areas of respondent and operant conditioning and an introduction to basic laboratory research. Thus, this course is oriented around a research emphasis. Students will be expected to develop a scientifically critical frame of reference as it relates to understanding simple and complex behavioral phenomena.
You will become well versed in the science of behavior as exemplified
by the experimental analysis of behavior including respondent conditioning,
operant conditioning and their interactions . You will be required to demonstrate
your factual and conceptual knowledge of the diverse content areas addressed
in this class. These areas will include complexities of conditioning, schedules
of reinforcement, stimulus control, aversive regulation of behavior, choice
and preference, conditioned reinforcement and applied behavioral analysis.
Part of this knowledge base will include appropriate scientific nomenclature
and the names of major figures in the field.
This course includes a laboratory component for which you will be assigned
to groups of two or three students. Each group will be working on a research
project for which all members of the group will have an important role in
the research project. Each group will be assigned to a different component
of a major class project. Before you are allowed to begin you research project
you will be instructed in the proper care and use of animals in behavioral
research and will demonstrate that you have the necessary knowledge to initiate
the project. Although you will work in groups of three for your research project
each member of the group must keep a copy of the data from all experimental
sessions and an independent (each student working on their own) laboratory
report will be required from each student at the end of the semester. In other
words plagiarism in any form, by which a student attempts to receive credit
for the work of others, will not be tolerated in this course and will result
in a failing grade. All attempts to plagiarize will be investigated using
web sources that have been developed to investigate this academic dishonesty
and will be reported to the dean of students.
Finally you will be instructed in the use of several software programs that you will be required to use for your laboratory presentation and report. These include, End Note, SigmaPlot, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Power Point. All reports must be submitted electronically to turnitin.com (you are required to pay a $10 software fee to use this site)
Cell Phone Policy: Please turn off or set your cell phone to the airplane settings during the entire class period. Failure to do so will result in immediate dismissal from the class and loss of 50 points. Additionally if your phone is active during a quiz you will also receive a 0 for the quiz.
UNCW practices a zero-tolerance policy for violence and harassment of
any kind.
For emergencies contact UNCW CARE at 962-2273, Campus Police
at 962-3184, or Wilmington Police at 911.
For University or community resources visit
http://uncw.edu/wrc/crisis.htm.”
Course Prerequisites:
All students are expected to have acquired the basic principles of psychological research design and evaluation, including techniques of data collection and analysis, and conduct, interpretation, and reporting of various types of psychological research. These skills are required and will not be taught in this class. It is expected that you have learned how to collect and analyze data and prepare a research report. Your grade does heavily depend on your ability to initiate, complete and write up your research project.
Course Evaluation and Grading:
Evaluation of your acquisition and retention of the materials presented
in this course will be based on your performance during classroom discussions,
laboratory research performance, paper presentations, unit quizzes, and
your research report. You will have 12 unit quizzes (35% of grade) of which
one can be dropped. Classroom and research participation will comprise 10%
of your grade. Each laboratory group will give a presentation on an article in
the literature pertaining to their laboratory project and present their study to
the class for 5% of their grade, your group-project presentation will provide
15% of your grade and the laboratory report which will be due during
finals week will account for 35% of your grade. You will
be demoted one letter grade for each day of un-excused absence from the class
or laboratory. Excused absences will be given for medical emergencies only.
They will require a physicians note and telephone number where you can
be reached during the class period in case one of your laboratory group members
or I need to contact you. Please do not take this course if you feel you cannot
attend all scheduled class meetings.
Examination Dates:
Quizzes will be given on one of the days the chapter is assigned..
Class Schedule
|
Date
|
Chapter |
| 05/17/07 | Chapter 1 |
| 05/22/07 | Chapter 2 |
| 05/29/07 | Chapter 6 |
| 05/30/07 | Chapter 7 |
| 06/04/07 | Chapter 3 |
| 06/05/07 | Chapter 4 |
| 06/06/07 | Chapter 5 |
| 06/07/07 | Group Article Presentation |
| 06/11/07 | Chapter 8 |
| 06/12/07 | Chapter 9 |
| 06/13/07 | Chapter 10 |
| 06/14/07 | Chapter 11, Chapter 12 |
| 06/18/07 | Lab Report Group Presentations |
| 06/19/07 | Written Laboratory Reports Due 1:00 pm |
Web8 Links containing material for each chapter http://www.uncwil.edu/people/dworkins/psy417links.htm
The deadline for submission of your laboratory report is: 1:00 pm on Tuesday
June 19 2007.
50 points will be deducted for each day the report is not turned in!
PSY 417 Laboratory Project
This lab exercise is designed to demonstrate several basic operant conditioning phenomena and to allow you to become familiar with some of the general procedures followed in learning research. The subjects of our experiment are albino rats. Student experimenters will work in teams, with each team assigned a single rat. Your report of this research will be based on the extended study of single subjects under several controlled conditions, as is the case in most of operant research. Each student will be required to turn in a unique laboratory report at the end of the semester.
Each laboratory report mist include at least seven references (4 of the 7 may not be used by your laboratory partners) and six figures (3 must be unique and not used by any other student in the course). The paper must be written in APA format and include all relevant sections requires for submission to an APA journal.
Overview of preliminary training steps
The experiment consists of several training and testing phases, as follows. A) Initially, the rat is allowed to adapt to the apparatus. B) The rat is then magazine trained, that is, "conditioned" to approach the food cup and eat the pellet when the delivery mechanism is operated. C) The lever press is shaped using the method of successive approximations. D) Once the rat is reliably pressing the lever, reinforcers will be delivered according to a continuous reinforcement schedule (i.e., fixed-ratio 1 or FR 1). E) After a full session under the FR 1 schedule the value of the FR schedule is increased in a series of steps.
General Features of the Method
Subject and apparatus. Subjects are male rats and are experimentally naive. Subjects are housed individually under reversed 12-hour light/dark conditions, and each is maintained at approximately 80% of its free-feeding , with unrestricted access to water in the home cage. Sessions are conducted in an operant conditioning chamber equipped with two levers and a pellet dispenser (which delivers 45-mg food pellets). Conditions in each chamber are controlled by a Dell PIII microcomputer programmed with the MedState. Your instructor and TA will provide you with details regarding the operation of the chamber.
Apparatus check. Before each session, the equipment should be checked thoroughly by simulating the conditions to which the rat will be exposed. Be certain that all lever presses are recorded properly and that reinforcers are delivered reliably. If you detect any malfunction, report it to your instructor or TA. Finally, be certain that the food cup is empty before the rat is placed in the chamber.
Caution regarding deprivation level. Each reinforcer that your rat consumes will reduce his level of food deprivation. Eventually, you may reach a point when the pellets will no longer serve as an effective reinforcer. This point may vary due to a number of factors, but it is a good rule to deliver no more than 100-150 reinforcers per session.
Data collection.. You should record the following information during each session in which you are instructed to do so:
a. Record exactly and explicitly all conditions in effect for each session. Make note of the date and the experimenter collecting the data. Also, make careful note of anything unusual that occurs during the session (e.g., equipment breakdown, etc.).
b. Record the time from the fist response until the reinforcer is delivered (this is referred to as the run time).
c. Record the time from the reinforcer delivery until the first response (this is referred to as the pause time)
d. Record the number of responses made before the delivery of each reinforcer
e. Record the cumulative number of reinforcers delivered during the session.
f. Record session duration, to the nearest second.
Adaptation to the Apparatus
Place the rat in the chamber and allow him to explore for approximately 10 minutes. Lever presses., should they occur, have no effect during this phase.
Magazine Training
Begin this phase by delivering a single reinforcer. The noise of the feeder may startle the rat, but eventually he should discover the reinforcer and eat it. Deliver additional reinforcers, one at a time, until the rat is eating regularly and reliably approaches the food cup at the sound of the feeder. Never deliver a reinforcer when there is already one in the food cup. You may deliver the first several pellets while the rat is in the vicinity of the food cup, to increase the likelihood that the pellet will be noticed quickly. Eventually however, you will want to deliver pellets when the rat is in different locations in the chamber, in order to assess whether the sound alone occasions an approach toward the food cup. Note that magazine training represents a kind of shaping. Initially the rat is trained to eat from the food cup. During further stages of magazine training we establish the sound of the feeder as a discriminative stimulus for approaching the cup. Thus, once the rat is eating reliably, wait until he has wandered away from the cup and is in the process of returning before you operate the feeder. During this phase, deliver reinforcers sparingly, and make each one count.
Shaping the Lever Press
The plan is to train the rat to press the lever using the sound of the feeder and the food pellets as the reinforcer. At first, reinforce any movement the rat makes in the direction of the lever. Gradually require the rat to come closer and closer to the lever, rise above it, touch it, partially depress it, and finally operate it on his own. Be careful to deliver reinforcers only for movements and not for sitting still. You must also try to make sure that each reinforcer delivery immediately follows the behavior that you would like to increase. Even a second of delay may lessen the impact of the reinforcer, and also runs the risk of following some less appropriate response that may occur during the delay period.
In shaping behavior there is a fine line between reinforcing some partial form of the response too many times (with the result that the rat's behavior may become difficult to alter from that level) and not reinforcing enough (with the result that you lose control of the rat's behavior). A good compromise is to employ a low variable ratio schedule (about every third to fifth response) to reinforce any behaviors already achieved, and to reinforce every response that comes closer to the desired behavior.
Once you have trained the rat to approach and touch the lever, you may find that he does not go on to apply sufficient force to operate the switch. One remedial technique is to shape greater and greater movements of the lever. This is accomplished by watching the movement of the lever outside of the chamber.
When the rat has made five or six full lever presses, shaping can be considered complete, and the remaining reinforcers are presented according to a FR 1 schedule. Time permitting, continue the session until 100 reinforcers have been delivered.
Continuous Reinforcement
An entire session beyond the shaping session is conducted in which every lever press is reinforced (i.e., an FR 1 schedule is in effect). If your animal does-not begin to respond in a minute or two, you may have to do some more shaping.
Increasing the Fixed Ratio
Several sessions will be devoted to training the rat to respond on intermittent schedules. The plan is to first reinforce every response, and then gradually increase the number required for reinforcement. We will begin intermittent-schedule training with the FR schedule. Begin with FR 1 for the first ten reinforcers. Then change the schedule to
FR 2 and allow the rat to complete at least ten ratios. Increase the size of the ratio in single units (i.e., FR 2, FR 4, etc), allowing completion of at least ten, ratios at each level.
Throughout, if it appears that your rat's lever pressing is becoming sporadic (e.g., if there are long pauses between presses), drop back to the preceding ratio. Thus, the number of ratios at each level given above is the minimal one, and the rate at which you increase the ratio size must depend on your rat's individual performance.
Subsequent Experimental Phases
Instructions on conducting the remaining experimental phases will be provided by your instructor and TA. **Please note that it will be your responsibility to keep complete notes on the procedures followed during these phases for all experimental animals, as these details will be critical for the important methods sections of your lab report.
