Hamster Training

I. Justification of the Research

A. Research should be undertaken with a clear scientific purpose. There should be a reasonable expectation that the research will:

a) Increase knowledge of the processes underlying the evolution, development, maintenance, alteration, control, or biological significance of behaviour

b) Determine the replicability and generality of prior research

c) Increase understanding of the species under study; or

d) Provide results that benefit the health or welfare of humans or other animals.

B. The scientific purpose of the research should be of sufficient potential significance to justify the use of animals. Psychologists should act on the assumption that procedures that would produce pain in humans will also do so in other animals.

C. The species chosen for study should be best suited to answer the question(s) posed. The psychologist should always consider the possibility of using other species, non-animal alternatives, or procedures that minimize the number of animals in research, and should be familiar with the appropriate literature.

D. Research on animals may not be conducted until the protocol has been reviewed by an appropriate animal care committee, for example, an institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC), to ensure that the procedures are appropriate and humane.

E. The psychologist should monitor the research and the animals' welfare throughout the course of an investigation to ensure continued justification for the research.

II. Personnel

A. Psychologists should ensure that personnel involved in their research with animals be familiar with these guidelines.

B. Animal use procedures must conform to federal regulations regarding personnel, supervision, record keeping, and veterinary care.

C. Behaviour is both the focus of study of many experiments as well as a primary source of information about an animal's health and well-being. It is therefore necessary that psychologists and their assistants be informed about the behavioural characteristics of their animal subjects, so as to be aware of normal, species-specific behaviours and unusual behaviours that could forewarn of health problems.

D. Psychologists should ensure that all individuals who use animals under their supervision receive explicit instruction in experimental methods and in the care, maintenance, and handling of the species being studied. Responsibilities and activities of all individuals dealing with animals should be consistent with their respective competencies, training, and experience in either the laboratory or the field setting.

HAMSTER TRAINING

Objective of Experiment

The objective of this project is to apply the principles of instrumental conditioning and to observe if it effectively trains the hamster to navigate through the maze. The principles of instrumental conditioning such as reinforcement, punishment and schedules of reinforcement used on our hamster named Candy.

Targeted Behaviour

            To achieve our targeted behaviour, which is for the hamster to complete the maze as quickly as possible, we apply the principle of reinforcement Schedule of reinforcement is Continuous. Food is used as a primary reinforcer, rewarding him every time he performs the desired behaviour. Should he keep making the wrong turns or stay at certain spot for too long, punishment is applied. We used positive, physical punishment; a simple flick on the ear with our fingers as well as pushing him lightly and also by saying “No” loudly, however, this method seems the least effective as opposed to the other methods.

The Maze

The maze is made out of cardboard and is designed according to the lecturer’s specifications.

Before we applied our intervention, we allowed Candy to explore the surroundings while timing him. He explored every corner of the maze, familiarising himself with the new environment. He stays put at the corners for long periods of time, climbing the walls, and scratches the cardboard floor. We would punish him whenever he did that so that it would decrease the likelihood of those behaviours reoccurring. His trial run was not successful as he was staying from one spot most of the time, so we stopped recording after five minutes. We then put him back into the cage before his actual run.

Before placing Candy back into the maze, we lay out a trail of food leading to the end of the maze. Food as the primary reinforcer, we observe how it would affect Candy’s next run. Prior to the runs, we had applied the principle of deprivation, in which the reinforcement would be more effective if the subject had been starved. Candy had not been given food for the past three hours. True enough, when put back into the maze, Candy followed the trail to the end of the maze where the real prize lies, a whole pile of seeds and nuts. It took him a time of approximately 7 seconds to complete the maze.

Based on what happened, since Candy was hungry, food was an incentive for him to complete the maze quickly. As for this trial, there was no need for punishment as he completed the maze perfectly. We decided that this principle should be repeated for future runs as we found it to be very effective.

For the following trials, we deprived Candy of food for at least three hours before each run. The amount of food used as a trail decreased for each run to the point that there was only one piece of food at each correct junction that led to the end.  This method proved to be effective in teaching Candy to navigate through the maze correctly. We continued this method of training with Candy 10 times. He seemed to be improving with every run. In the final run, where food was only placed at the end of the maze, Candy managed to complete the maze in one minute and 13 seconds.

Discussion

            Among the possible reasons why Candy was able to take less time to complete the maze for each run was due to repetitively familiarising himself with the environment. Repeated exposure to the maze allowed him to adapt to his new environment. Candy also ‘marked’ certain areas of the maze with urine. This could possibly be one of his ways of completing the maze by following his own scent. We would then clean those areas by wiping a damp tissue over it, erasing his tracks.