A Rat Plays Cornhole: Is it Magic or Science?

A Rat Plays Cornhole: Is it Magic or Science?

Date

2-13-2024

Faculty Mentor

C. Renee Renda, Psychology

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Submission Type

Conference Proceeding

Location

11:15-11:25am | Houston Cole Library, 11th Floor

Description

Behavior analysis is the science of human and animal behavior. The principles and procedures of behavior analysis have been used to meaningfully influence socially significant behaviors in many populations (e.g., increasing communication skills with autism spectrum disorder and decreasing drug use in individuals with substance use disorder). One procedure to teach new behaviors is called shaping, which involves rewarding successive steps that lead to a more complex behavior and not rewarding the steps that have already been learned. Though seemingly simple, successfully shaping a new behavior is a subtle process that depends on many factors (e.g., reward immediacy and frequency, quickly adapting to the learner’s behavior). In the Behavior Analytic Rodent Research (BARR) lab on campus, students learn how to shape behavior using rats as subjects. I have created a shaping protocol to teach a complex behavior that, to our knowledge, no rat has done before. I will describe how shaping was used to teach a rat how to play cornhole followed by a demonstration of this behavior.

Keywords

student research, psychology

Rights

This content is the property of Jacksonville State University and is intended for non-commercial use. Video and images may be copied for personal use, research, teaching or any "fair use" as defined by copyright law. Users are asked to acknowledge Jacksonville State University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@jsu.edu.

Disciplines

Psychology

A Rat Plays Cornhole: Is it Magic or Science?

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