At 3:27 PM -0500 6/28/02, Kirsten Rewey wrote: >At 2:21 PM -0500 6/28/02, Paul Brandon wrote: >>At 2:11 PM -0500 6/28/02, Kirsten Rewey wrote: >>\>I used Sniffy to teach both classical and operant conditioning in a >>>learning class. It worked great! As I recall, students did some of >>>the work individually and some in groups. Let me know if you want >>>more info. >>> >> >>Have you tried shaping Sniffy as if it were a live rat? >>What happened?
I've worked with live lab rats for 40+ years, as well as with a number of simulations. If you try to shape Sniffy as if he were a live rat (_without_ reading the instructions) you'll get nowhere; his behavior does not obey the same rules. I'd strongly recommend the CyberRat program (see http://www.psych-ai.com/CyberRat/CyberRat.html) which should be ready this Fall. I'm somewhat biased; I've been working (pro bono) with CyberRat's programmers. Partly this is because I've used Sniffy and found it unsatisfactory for teaching operant conditioning. >With the Sniffy package you actually get some pre-programmed (no pun >intended) rats to behave according to specific schedules. I think >there is a FR1 and VR25 rat included with the software. However, when >you initially open the Sniffy program you are given a naive rat: you >have to shape Sniffy to respond to the sound of food dropping into >the food tray, then you have to shape Sniffy to press the bar. > >It's been a long time since I've worked with live rats (instead of >virtual ones), so take my recall with a large grain of salt. But I >thought the simulation was quite good - the experience was like >working with rats during my grad school days. In short, the more >systematic and consistent I was in shaping the virtual rat, the >better Sniffy performed. Also, Sniffy responded much the way you >might expect a live rat to behave - exploring the operant chamber, >drinking, rearing, etc. And (to the annoyance of some of my students) >Sniffy will occasionally press the bar during the shaping process. > >However, others might have a different opinion about the accuracy of >the Sniffy program. Is there anyone out there in TIPSters land that >has experience working with live and virtual rats? > >Kirsten * PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Department 507-389-6217 * * "The University formerly known as Mankato State" * * http://www.mankato.msus.edu/dept/psych/welcome.html * --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
