Penelope Starts Magazine Training

Goal:

The goal of Penelope's first training session was to condition her to realize that food appears once the light flashes and a pellet drops into the food magazine. This is referred to as magazine training. In this session, I am trying to get Penelope to go eat the pellet every time one is dispensed.

Procedure:

Penelope was brought down to 90% of her body weight over the past week in order for her to be more willing to work for a reward (in this case, she will be rewarded with a sugary food pellet). The two days prior to her first session, I introduced these food pellets to her so she would get used to the taste and grow to like them. Penelope successfully reached her target weight by the first day of training and now weighs 204.5 grams. Our sessions begin at 3:00 P.M. each day.

Results:

On day 1 of training, I could tell she was very nervous. When I first put her in the operant box, she immediately began sniffing everything and walking in circles. I delivered a pellet as soon as I put her in the box, hoping that she would eventually make her way to the food magazine and see the food in there. After sniffing for a couple of minutes, she made her way to the food magazine and ate the food. Once she pulled her head out of the food magazine, I gave her another pellet, hoping she would notice the light that comes on and the noise it makes when a pellet is given. After about 10 minutes of this, I believe she figured it out. Every time I pressed the button to administer a pellet, she would make her way over to eat it in 35-50 seconds.

I also began shaping Penelope toward the end of the session, after I thought she figured out magazine training. Every time she turned her head to the left after pulling out of the food magazine, I gave her a  pellet. I do not think she learned this in the first session, but it was a good start.

On day 1, Penelope was in the operant box for 24 minutes. She had 3 bar presses, and I gave her 37 pellets. She was on shaping 1 lever.

Discussion:

I believe Penelope has made the connection between the light/sound and the dispensing of food. I do not think she made the connection between the bar and the food though. I will continue shaping tomorrow, now that she is aware that she gets rewarded with food.