Method Subjects To complete this experiment, we used Sprague Dawley rats that were obtained from a breeding company entitled Envigo. We used a total of twelve rats. The rats used in this experiment are all 2.5 years old. The rats were each pair-housed in a temperature controlled room at approximately 22 C. All rats are maintained on a 12:12 hour light dark cycle. For the sake of the experiment, we water restricted the rats as a way to contribute to their motivational state. Apparatus Each animal was placed into small animal operant conditioning chambers. The walls of the chambers are constructed of plexiglass. The ceiling, as well as the front and back of the chamber, are each made of aluminum. The chamber itself is 22 centimeters wide and 25 centimeters long. Located on the left side of the chamber, there is a lever that is approximately eight and a half centimeters long and about one centimeter wide. The lever delivers the water to the aperture where the rats can access …show more content…
Shaping is the process by which we reinforce all closer approximations to the desired behavior, while fading out previous approximations of the already trained behavior. To shape this new behavior, the rats were no longer reinforced for nose poking into the hopper. Before beginning shaping, we allowed the rat to habituate into the chamber for five minutes and recorded all behavioral observations. Next, we reinforced the rats when they began to approach the area near the lever. An example of the behaviors that were reinforced were the rats raising their bodies in front of the lever, touching the lever, touching the lever with its paw, pressure exerted on the lever, and a full lever press. We observed and recorded all behaviors for 60 minutes. To precisely measure all behaviors we recorded it in intervals of 2. For each interval, we recorded the cumulative number of responses and the number of reinforcers.
The bystander effect refers to the tendency for an observer of an emergency to withhold aid if the:
3. Lexi and Petri are identical twins who were separated at birth and grew up with very different families. Lexi is a skilled student who has three close friends and a loving boyfriend. Her adoptive family had difficulties accepting her when she was an infant and never really appreciated her until she reached puberty. Petri is also a good student and is very well liked in her sorority. Her adoptive family adored Petri until the family dissolved in a messy divorce when Petri was 16. Based on the core model of personality, who probably has higher self esteem, Lexi or Petri?
Behavior modification is based on the principles of operant conditioning, which were developed by American behaviorist B.F. Skinner. In his research, he put a rat in a cage later known as the Skinner Box, in which the rat could receive a food pellet by pressing on a bar. The food reward acted as a reinforcement by strengthening the rat's bar-pressing behavior. Skinner studied how the rat's behavior changed in response to differing patterns of reinforcement. By studying the way the rats operated on their environment, Skinner formulated the concept of operant conditioning, through which behavior could be shaped by reinforcement or lack of it. Skinner considered his discovery applicable to a wide range of both human and animal behaviors(“Behavior,” 2001).
Chapter 4 discusses the several states of consciousness: the nature of consciousness, sleep and dreams, psychoactive drugs, hypnosis, and meditation. Consciousness is a crucial part of human experience, it represents that private inner mind where we think, feel, plan, wish, pray, omagine, and quietly relive experiences. William James described the mind as a stream of consciousness, a continuous flow of changing sensations, images thoughts, and feelings. Consciousness has two major parts: awareness and arousal. Awareness includes the awareness of the self and thoughts about one's experiences. Arousal is the physiological state of being engaged with the environment. Theory of mind refers to individuals understanding that they and others think,
3. After her last drinking spree, Karen hid a half-empty liquor bottle. She couldn't remember where she hid it until she started drinking again. Karen's pattern of recall best illustrates:
The Boy who couldn’t stop Washing written by DR. Judith Rapoport, published by Penguin books in 1989, containing 292 pages, deals with obsessive compulsive disorder. Dr. Rapoport is a psychiatrist who specializes in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). In this, book she reveals new drug treatments, new methods in diagnosis and behaviorist therapies. This is done through the study of her patients and their disorders. Rapoport has revealed this secret disease and hopes to bring and understanding about it to all that may suffer from it and to anyone who may want to be informed. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about OCD. It may help those who face this disease everyday of their lives, and make them realize they are not alone. Also will aid in those who do not know much about this disease and give them and understanding and be aware that it surrounds us.
Shaping involves reinforcing a target behavior by using operant conditioning to reward a positive behavior and prevent a negative behavior. This method was created by B.F Skinner, in which he reinforced a target behavior in the experimenting of rats to see if they will be able to push a lever. He used the principle of rewarding by giving the rats a piece of food each time they got closer to the lever. Shaping, also called "successive approximation," allows the subject of the experiment to set goals for itself when it has reached that successful approximation. Rewarding has its benefits because it is a sensitive procedure towards an act that helps shape a behavior. Shaping can also be used on humans, in laying emphasis on a positive behavior.
n hypothesis of the experiment is that the group containing four members will perform better than the group containing two members. This is the foundation from which we have conducted our experiment.
3. According to Emily's grandfather, Adolf Hitler's obvious emotional instability made it clear that Germany would inevitably lose World War II. The grandfather's claim best illustrates:
1. Summary: From small incidences, we can distinguish two types of people: the ones who sigh in frustration out of small mistakes and those who promptly deal with them without uttering any more than a single complaint or sigh. According to Michael D. Robinson(PHD at North Dakota State University), how we cope with these most dull incidents can reveal a lot about us as humans and our temperaments. In fact, this small deviation in behavior can prove detrimental to our health long term. Just as significantly stressful events can cause stress hormones to flood throughout our body, these small incidents can harm us according to Nancy Nicolson(associate professor of psychiatry and psychology at Maastricht University). Furthermore, Nicolson points to a 10-15% increase in cortisol levels for such small annoyances, which may be small compared to the 100% increase that we usually experience from greatly stressful events such as tests, but when accumulated over time, can lead to a bad combined effect. Carmen Sandi further states that feeling chronically stressed can weaken the immune system and increase heart disease. Rosalind S. Dorlen adds on, claiming that mental strategies can be practiced to help us exercise the brain region responsible for reasoning as long as we train ourselves to deal with this persistent tissue. Next, the article lists 5 signs of stress and how to deal with them. Often, we feel inconvenienced about a situation such as when a bus comes late and view our waiting of it as a “waste of time”. Perhaps, Dorlen concludes, we should try to see why the bus may have been late and take the issue from their perspective such as a maj...
B.F. Skinner, also a behaviorist, studied the effects of operant conditioning on behavior. Operant conditioning is the basic learning process that in...
Wisdom represents a fruitful topic for psychological investigation for at least two reasons. First, the study of wisdom emphasizes the search for the continued optimization and the further culture evolution of the human condition second, it exemplifies the collaboration of cognitive, emotional and motivational process. The growth and scope of psychological wisdom research over the past few decades demonstrate that it is possible to investigation this. Complex construct with empirical rigor. For Common people, wisdom in the form proverbs and simple rules of conduct was important and useful.
C. The lunar eclipse was interesting but I had to go back to sleep, after staring out the window for awhile.
For this research requirement I chose three different experiments to examine thoroughly. The first of these experiments came from the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. The study done in this journal was an examination of orthographic learning and self-teaching in a bilingual and biliterate context. The aim of the study was to figure out the advantages and/or disadvantages of a student learning a native language when they are either monolingual, bilingual, or biliterate, and the study was focused on learning English because this is the most commonly learned non-native language in the world.
In my reaction paper I will discuss B.F. Skinners theory operant conditioning and the ways he tested it out on animals, how it relates to humans, and how I can relate operant conditioning to my own personal life.