I have been teaching "Rat Lab" for a long time and I have used many
different books over the years, including the books by Schwartz; Mazur;
Domjan; Rachlin; and others. I finally settled on Paul Chance's book
because it had the basic material at a level students could understand.
It is an easier version than all the others mentioned, but the students
learn a lot from it and are not overwhelmed. I also include outside
readings such as Rescorla's "Pavlovian Conditioning: It's not what you
think it is" and Seligman's "On the Generality of the Laws of Learning".
Like Jim mentioned, I also have an adoption policy (although not as
formal) for the rats, since the students do seem to get quite attached.
Of the 12 rats from last semester, I still have one left to find a home
for. Right now it might be used as a demo rat for General Psych classes
when they cover operant conditioning.
In lab, we cover: Magazine training, shaping, schedules of
reinforcement, extinction and discrimination training. The students are
required to come up with a simple experiment to complete and write up in
APA style. The course is 4 credits and we meet everyday (2 days lab and
3 days lecture/discussion). It is really fun to teach because the 10-12
students who take it know what they are getting into, and really enjoy
the hands on experience.
Pat Santoro
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