Speaking from experience as a one-time undergrad learning student whose rat died in the middle of training, sometimes the real thing is not as educational as a simulation (unless you mean in teaching the facts of life and death and the fact that life isn't fair). Just as a theory based on data will be more generalizable than the experience of a single data point, all the extraneous stuff that goes on with training a live rat sometimes just obscures the point you are trying to teach. Rick Dr. Rick Froman Psychology Department Box 3055 John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 (479) 524-7295 [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Pete, it's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart" - Ulysses Everett McGill
________________________________ From: Paul Brandon [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sun 8/26/2007 11:12 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] RE: Sniffy vs real rats At 6:16 PM -0500 8/15/07, Michael Scoles wrote: Tim is right. In discussing ethical issues regarding animal research, we preach that simulations imply an understanding of the animal, which we don't really have. So, why do we suggest that they act as "researchers" with a simulation? Students will discover that a real animal (mouse, rat, pigeon, dog, or human) doesn't behave exactly like their textbook says. 'Sniffy' definitely does not behave like real rat, but there are other simulations that are better, such as CyberRat <http://www.psych-ai.com/cyberratnet_folder/welcome.html>. All simulations are models, and as such are limited in the range of behaviors and situations modeled, but based on ten years of students using both live rats and CyberRat (and comparing the two), CyberRat is very realistic. -- The best argument against Intelligent Design is that fact that people believe in it. * PAUL K. BRANDON [EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Psychology Dept Minnesota State University * * 23 Armstrong Hall, Mankato, MN 56001 ph 507-389-6217 * * http://krypton.mnsu.edu/~pkbrando/ * --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
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