Music Discrimination Training in Lab Rats Joanna Dickens

Music Discrimination Training in Lab Rats Joanna Dickens Psych 360 Spring 2007

Abstract In this experiment I trained my lab rat (Fosse) music discrimination using two different types of music Jazz and Classical And to make a different response in the presence of each one

Fosse

This experiment was carried out as a SINGLE SUBJECT REASEARCH DESIGN This means that the entire experiment was conducted with a single subject, though it may be replicated with several other subjects.

Background Information During the conduction of this experiment, Fosse was deprived of water for 24 hours before each lab session. This was to help the water used to serve as a reinforcer during the experiment. The water used in this experiment was a 10% sucrose solution Recall that DEPRIVATION is the withholding of a reinforcer that increases relevant learning and performance. And a REINFORCER is any stimulus, event, or condition whose presentation immediately follows a response and increases the frequency of that response.

Fosse was trained prior to this experiment to perform the full lever press and the chain pull

A few things are needed before the experiment can begin… Rat Skinner Box (Operant Conditioning Box) Lever Water Chain i. Pod (or some other musical device) Music

There were two pieces of music used in this experiment, one jazz piece and one classical piece. The jazz piece was “Watermelon Island” By Eldar Djangirov The classical piece was “Mood Music” By Jim Brickman

The first part of the experiment involved measuring baseline for a period of 5 minutes. Both the chain and lever were present in the Skinner box, and both the light and music were turned off. Recall that BASELINE is the phase of an experiment or intervention in which behavior is measured in the absence of an intervention.

From this point on we build upon our two basic reinforcement contingencies that we activate BEFORE BEHAVIOR AFTER No Water Pull Chain Water And BEFORE BEHAVIOR AFTER No Water Press Lever Water A REINFORCEMENT CONTINGENCY is the immediate response contingent presentation of a reinforcer resulting in an increased frequency of that response.

But things are never this easy in life, are they? We need to apply the concepts of SD and S∆ along with multiple Discrimination Training Contingencies And just to review… An SD is a stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will be reinforced or punished. And An S∆ is a stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will not be reinforced or punished

So we end up with two separate Discrimination Training Contingencies A discrimination training procedure involves reinforcing or punishing a response in the presence of one stimulus and extinguishing it or allowing it to recover in the presence of another stimulus

Therefore our two Discrimination Training Contingencies are as follows

For Jazz Music/Chain Pulling SD AFTER Jazz Music Water BEFORE BEHAVIOR No Water Pull Chain S∆ AFTER Classical Music No Water

For Classical Music/Lever Pressing SD AFTER Classical Music Water BEFORE BEHAVIOR No Water Lever Press S∆ AFTER Jazz Music No Water

Experiment The basic goal of this experiment is to show discrimination training by the lab rat between two types of music (the jazz piece and the classical piece) by having him perform two separate behaviors (the pulling of the chain and pressing of the lever) during the appropriate music (SD) and to extinguish the inappropriate response (S∆)

Jazz Music/Chain Pulling During the first part of the experiment, chain pulling in the presence of the jazz music has to be established. First, the light is turned off, and the music is set to play the jazz piece. Then each chain pull is reinforced, while each lever press is extinguished (by not giving the reinforcer) Once this behavior of chain pulling in the presence of the jazz music has been established for a consecutive minute with NO lever presses, the experiment continues on.

Classical Music/Lever Pressing Once chain pulling has been established in the presence of the jazz music, switch over to the classical music piece. Now every lever press will be reinforced while each chain pull is extinguished. This continues on until one consecutive minute passes with no incorrect response.

This process of alternating between reinforcing the chain pulling during the jazz music (with no lever presses taking place) and reinforcing the lever pressing during the classical music (with no chain pulling taking place) in one minute intervals (with only correct responding taking place) continues on until total discrimination between the two types of music and the two corresponding behaviors occur.

Data

Baseline On the first day of the experiment, baseline was recorded for five minutes. No music was playing, and the lever and chain were both in place. There were 78 total lever presses in the 5 minute period That’s an average of 15. 6 per minute No chain pulling occurred during baseline

Day 1 On Day 1, the following data were collected Jazz Music/Chain Pull Classical Music/Lever Press 15 Total Minutes 75 Chain Pulls (Reinforced) Average of 5 per minute 35 Lever Presses (Not reinforced) Total Responses: 110 Total Correct: 75/110 68% 6 Total Minutes 69 Lever Presses (Reinforced) Average of 11. 5 per minute 3 Chain Pulls (Not Reinforced) Total Responses: 72 Total Correct: 69/72 96%

And now Day 4 Jazz Music/Chain Pull Classical Music/Lever Press 23 Total Minutes 208 Chain Pulls Average of 9. 04 per minute 25 Lever Presses Total Responses: 233 Total Correct: 208/233 89% 14 Total Minutes 121 Lever Presses Average of 8. 64 per minute 9 Chain Pulls Total Responses: 130 Total Correct: 121/130 93%

Finally Day 7 Jazz Music/Chain Pull Classical Music/Lever Press 15 Total Minutes 225 Chain Pulls Average of 15 per minute 3 Lever Presses Total Responses: 228 Total Correct: 225/228 98. 7% 17 Total Minutes 248 Total Lever Presses Average of 15. 59 per minute 3 Chain Pulls Total Responses: 251 Total Correct: 248/251 98. 8%

On the day of recording… Jazz Music/Chain Pull Classical Music/Lever Press 8 Total Minutes 100 Chain Pulls Average of 12. 5 per minute 0 Lever Presses Total Responses: 100 Total Correct: 100/100 100% 8 Total Minutes 106 Lever Presses Average of 13. 25 per minute 1 Chain Pull Total Responses: 107 Total Correct: 106/107 99. 1%

For the Entire Experiment Jazz Music/Chain Pull Classical Music/Lever Press 153 Total Minutes 1382 Chain Pulls Average of 9. 03 per minute 184 Lever Presses Total Responses: 1566 Total Correct: 1382/1566 88. 25% 107 Total Minutes 1283 Lever Presses Average of 11. 99 per minute 42 Chain Pulls Total Responses: 1325 Total Correct: 1283/1325 96. 83%

IT WORKED!

After conducting the experiment and analyzing the data, it can be said that Fosse the rat properly learned to distinguish between jazz music and classical music, and to perform the correct response during each musical selection nearly 100% of the time during the last three lab sessions

Conclusion This experiment proves that music discrimination is possible in lab rats with the proper techniques and patience. Further experiments could now be conducted to see if this can be applied to other lab rats, and other selections of music from these two musical genres.

And now watch, observe, and enjoy!

Experiment Designed and Executed by Joanna M. Dickens Western Michigan University Department of Psychology Psych 360 Concepts of Behavior Analysis Spring 2007