These days of training, my purpose was to stretch the ratio that Remy could tolerate for not receiving reinforcements. The goal was for her to get at least 60 reinforcements on this schedule for a few days before I planned to stretch the ratio further.
My procedure for these sessions was essentially the same as the one for the FR2 sessions. To refresh your memory of the definition of an FR schedule, remember that FR3 means that Remy only gets a reinforcement every THIRD time she presses the lever. It is a fixed ratio (3:1) between the number of bar presses (3) and receiving food in the magazine (1). Our training sessions began at 4:30 PM each day. Remy weighed between 199.5 grams and 201.5 grams, maintaining roughly her target weight of 200 grams (90% of her body weight).
Results from these training days were mixed. The first day was great--Remy pressed the bar 180 times and got 59 reinforcements! For most of her time in the operant box, she was focused on getting pellets and little else concerned her besides the occasional grooming session. An example of her grooming is in the video below.
The next couple of days did not go so well. The second day, Remy spent the entire training session agitated. Just before the session, she tried to leap out of her cage and I stopped her, which unfortunately scared her half to death. I put her in the operant box just to watch her press the bar a total of 40 times in between her obsessive grooming sessions and attempts to climb out of the cage... :(
After the third day, I decided we would not spend another day on an FR schedule. This day, she pressed the bar 95 times and received 31 pellets, but I did not anticipate that she would progress any further or do as well as the first day of FR3 if she kept at it. Another note about this day that was different than other days: while Remy was focused enough to press the bar almost 100 times, she still seemed very agitated this day. I determined this by her behaviors--darting across the box, jumping towards the ceiling, and trying other alternatives to pressing the bar such as pulling it down from underneath her.
Here are the cumulative records for each day of FR3:
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| Cumulative Record 3/8/16 |
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| Cumulative Record 3/9/16 |
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| Cumulative Record 3/10/16 |
Discussion:
FR3 was the highest schedule I attained for the fixed ratio type of reinforcement. Remy's behavior changed a little from FR1-FR3, mostly via the assertiveness she had in pressing the bar when it didn't offer her reinforcements right away. Overall as I moved through the schedules, she spent more time at or near the bar and learned to press it several times in a row with persistence.
Sadly, my training time with Remy is almost done. I have chosen to move on from a fixed ratio schedule because I feel like she has already shown me her best and now her bar pressing behavior seems to be declining. Because of this, the next post will cover my attempts at a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement (to be explained soon).
Until next time!
-Jessica
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