Understanding Operant Conditioning
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My subject is Snatch, our pet rat. She is a 1-year-old Fancy Rat.
The behavior I chose to strengthen is to get Snatch to go to the red (left) box when placed in front of a red and green (right) box. I tried this five times each day.
In the baseline stage I used no reinforcers. When the conditioning phase started I placed food in the box I wanted her to continually go to.
In the baseline phase Snatch didn't seem particularly interested in either box. The first day she went to the red (intended) box once. The second day not at all and the third day she went to it once as well. However, on the fourth day, when I began the conditioning, I placed some food and peanuts (which is a treat for her) in the red box...