Sniffy, the virtual rat: Simulated operant conditioning

Abstract

We report on the use of our Sniffy program to teach operant conditioning to 900 introductory psychology students. The simulation is designed primarily to teach the principles of shaping and partial reinforcement in an operant chamber. Advanced features are provided for exploring modeling issues and the learning parameters of the model. Students observe the rat's pretraining behaviors, shape barpressing, and explore the effects of partial reinforcement schedules on a cumulative record. Any of 30 actions can be trained to occur in specific locations in the Skinner box. This paper summarizes details about the software, interface, and instructional objectives.The Sniffy program is designed primarily to teach the principles of shaping and partial reinforcement in operant conditioning. Advanced features are provided for the exploration of modeling issues and the learning parameters of the model. This program simulates many of the behaviors one would observe in a real rat learning to operate in the controlled environment of an operant chamber. Sniffy, a simulated rat, can be trained to perform any of the 30 behaviors in its repertoire by pairing food delivery with the target behavior. So that students may fully appreciate the major features of operant conditioning, we have provided instructions for two 2-h lab sessions.The first allows students to train Sniffy to press the bar for food, and the second explores the changes in behavior that occur under partial reinforcement (PRF) conditions. Spontaneous recovery, discrimination, and chaining are phenomema that have not yet been implemented in our program. We do not claim that the exact slope of the response rates observed in real rats have been replicated, although we have attempted to display the typical differences observed among the four major PRF schedules. Careful instructors may refer to Sniffy as rattus siliconus and treat the learning objective as one in which the behavior of this new species needs to documented, verified, and tested.In the following sections, we present a rationale for the development of this simulation, a brief review of operant conditioning, and a summary of the two labs that we have run to date. Some of the background material is adapted from the program's extensive documentation. The final section provides a general description of the program and of how its major features are implemented.We gratefully thank Erindale College, the University of Toronto Computer Shop, and Apple Canada for the support that made our teaching lab possible. Greg Wilson is the mastermind behind Sniffy's behavior, and we thank him for making the achievement of an improbable task a reality. Correspondence should be addressed to J. Graham,

Introductory psychology laboratories using graphic simulations of virtual subjects

“…They may condition rats to perform simple activities, including pressing a lever, by delivering rewards using the method of successive approximations (shaping), or they may explore how rats behave under different schedules of reinforcement or experimental extinction. Our operant conditioning microworld, although it was developed in parallel over 4 years ago, is similar to the simulation recently described by Graham, Alloway, and Krames (1994).…”

Assessing the effectiveness of a multimedia-based lab for upper division psychology students

“…With the development of Sniffy the rat (Graham et a l., 1994), this opportunity for hands-on learni ng can be provided for psychology students who study in a department without animal laboratories.…”

“…Although the initial cost may be high, it is more cost efficient for long-term laboratory use to develop a computer lab. For exampIe, the estimated cost for purchasing and maintaining laboratory rats is $2,000 per student (Graham, Alloway, & Krames, 1994); however, using a computer virtual rat has an inirial cost of less than $2,000 for a single computer and software, and more than one student can use the virtual rat software in a computer Iab over the course of a semester. Thus, the availability of inexpensive personal computers has led to the possibility of developing computer software dedicated to training and tutoring students (Lee, 1992;Rosen & Petty, 1992;Welsh & xou, 1991).…”

Wildcat World: Simulation programs for teaching basic concepts in psychological science

“…Computer simulations used in the teaching of psychology have been described for a number of specialized content areas, such as operant conditioning (Graf, 1995;Graham, Alloway, & Krames, 1994;Shimoff & Catania, 1995). Computer simulations have also been described that use stochastically determined events to illustrate statistical principles (see, e.g., .…”