Music Discrimination Training in Lab Rats

Joanna Dickens

Psych 360

Spring 2007

Abstract

In this experiment I trained my lab rat (Fosse) music discrimination using two

different types of musicJazzand

ClassicalAnd to make a different response in the

presence of each one

Fosse

This experiment was carried out as a

SINGLE SUBJECT REASEARCH DESIGN

This means that the entire experiment was conducted with a single subject, though it may

be replicated with several other subjects.

Background InformationDuring the conduction of this experiment, Fosse was deprived of water for 24 hours before each lab session. This was to help the water used to serve as a reinforcer

during the experiment.

The water used in this experiment was a 10% sucrose solution

Recall that DEPRIVATION is the withholding of a reinforcer that increases relevant learning and

performance.

And a REINFORCER is any stimulus, event, or condition whose presentation immediately follows a response and

increases the frequency of that response.

Fosse was trained prior to this experiment to perform the full lever press and the chain

pull

A few things are needed before the experiment can begin…

Rat

Skinner Box

(Operant Conditioning Box)

Lever

Water

Chain

iPod (or some other musical device)

Music

There were two pieces of music used in this experiment, one jazz piece and one classical

piece.

The jazz piece was

“Watermelon Island”By Eldar Djangirov

The classical piece was

“Mood Music”By Jim Brickman

The first part of the experiment involved measuring baseline for a period of 5 minutes. Both the chain and lever were present in the

Skinner box, and both the light and music were turned off.

Recall that BASELINE is the phase of an experiment or intervention in which behavior is

measured in the absence of an intervention.

From this point on we build upon our two basic reinforcement contingencies that we activate

A REINFORCEMENT CONTINGENCY is the immediate response contingent presentation of a

reinforcer resulting in an increased frequency of that response.

BEFORE

No Water

BEHAVIOR

Pull Chain

AFTER

Water

And

BEFORE

No Water

BEHAVIOR

Press Lever

AFTER

Water

But things are never this easy in life,

are they?

We need to apply the concepts of SD and S∆ along with multiple Discrimination Training Contingencies

And just to review…

An SD is a stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will be reinforced or punished.

And

An S∆ is a stimulus in the presence of which a particular response will not be reinforced or punished

So we end up with two separate Discrimination Training

Contingencies

A discrimination training procedure involves reinforcing or punishing a

response in the presence of one stimulus and extinguishing it or allowing it to recover in the presence of another

stimulus

Therefore our two

Discrimination Training Contingencies

are as follows

For Jazz Music/Chain Pulling

BEFORE

No Water

SD

Jazz Music

BEHAVIOR

Pull Chain

S∆

Classical Music

AFTER

Water

AFTER

NoWater

For Classical Music/Lever Pressing

BEFORE

No Water

BEHAVIOR

Lever Press

SD

Classical Music

S∆

Jazz Music

AFTER

Water

AFTER

NoWater

Experiment

The basic goal of this experiment is to show discrimination training by the lab rat between two types of music (the jazz

piece and the classical piece) by having him perform two separate behaviors (the pulling of the chain and pressing of the

lever) during the appropriate music (SD) and to extinguish the inappropriate

response (S∆)

Jazz Music/Chain PullingDuring the first part of the

experiment, chain pulling in the presence of the jazz music has to

be established.

First, the light is turned off, and the music is set to play the jazz piece.

Then each chain pull is reinforced, while each lever press is

extinguished (by not giving the reinforcer)

Once this behavior of chain pulling in the presence of the jazz music

has been established for a consecutive minute with NO lever presses, the experiment

continues on.

Classical Music/Lever Pressing

Once chain pulling has been established in the presence of the jazz music, switch over to

the classical music piece.

Now every lever press will be reinforced while each chain

pull is extinguished.

This continues on until one consecutive minute passes

with no incorrect response.

This process of alternating between reinforcing the chain pulling during the jazz music (with no lever presses taking place) and reinforcing the lever pressing during the classical music (with no chain

pulling taking place) in one minute intervals (with only correct responding

taking place) continues on until total discrimination between the two types of

music and the two corresponding behaviors occur.

Data

BaselineOn the first day of the experiment, baseline was

recorded for five minutes. No music was playing, and the

lever and chain were both in place.

There were 78 total lever presses in the 5 minute period

That’s an average of 15.6 per minute

No chain pulling occurred during baseline

Day 1On Day 1, the following data were collected

Jazz Music/Chain Pull

15 Total Minutes75 Chain Pulls (Reinforced)

Average of 5 per minute35 Lever Presses (Not

reinforced)Total Responses: 110Total Correct: 75/110

68%

Classical Music/Lever Press

6 Total Minutes

69 Lever Presses (Reinforced)

Average of 11.5 per minute

3 Chain Pulls (Not Reinforced)

Total Responses: 72

Total Correct: 69/72

96%

And now Day 4

Jazz Music/Chain Pull

23 Total Minutes

208 Chain Pulls

Average of 9.04 per minute

25 Lever Presses

Total Responses: 233

Total Correct: 208/233

89%

Classical Music/Lever Press

14 Total Minutes

121 Lever Presses

Average of 8.64 per minute

9 Chain Pulls

Total Responses: 130

Total Correct: 121/130

93%

Finally Day 7

Jazz Music/Chain Pull

15 Total Minutes

225 Chain Pulls

Average of 15 per minute

3 Lever Presses

Total Responses: 228

Total Correct: 225/228

98.7%

Classical Music/Lever Press

17 Total Minutes

248 Total Lever Presses

Average of 15.59 per minute

3 Chain Pulls

Total Responses: 251

Total Correct: 248/251

98.8%

On the day of recording…

Jazz Music/Chain Pull

8 Total Minutes

100 Chain Pulls

Average of 12.5 per minute

0 Lever Presses

Total Responses: 100

Total Correct: 100/100

100%

Classical Music/Lever Press

8 Total Minutes

106 Lever Presses

Average of 13.25 per minute

1 Chain Pull

Total Responses: 107

Total Correct: 106/107

99.1%

For the Entire Experiment

Jazz Music/Chain Pull

153 Total Minutes

1382 Chain Pulls

Average of 9.03 per minute

184 Lever Presses

Total Responses: 1566

Total Correct: 1382/1566

88.25%

Classical Music/Lever Press

107 Total Minutes

1283 Lever Presses

Average of 11.99 per minute

42 Chain Pulls

Total Responses: 1325

Total Correct: 1283/1325

96.83%

IT WORKED!

After conducting the experiment and analyzing the data, it can be said

that Fosse the rat properly learned to distinguish between jazz music

and classical music, and to perform the correct response during each

musical selection nearly 100% of the time during the last three lab

sessions

Conclusion

This experiment proves that music discrimination is possible in lab rats

with the proper techniques and patience.

Further experiments could now be conducted to see if this can be applied to other lab rats, and other selections

of music from these two musical genres.

And now watch, observe, and enjoy!

Experiment Designed and Executed byJoanna M. Dickens

Western Michigan UniversityDepartment of Psychology

Psych 360Concepts of Behavior Analysis

Spring 2007