Magazine Training

     Anne Rataway appeared to be a quick learner. She had figured out the lever was associated with the chocolate pellets within the 18 minutes or so of magazine training. On the first day, she was in the operant conditioning box for a total of 21:13 and received 40 pellets. Though 40 pellets do not seem like much, when Anne began to figure out the association between the lever and chocolate pellets there was an increase in the number of pellets given per minute. Anne only needed on day for magazine training.To provide positive reinforcement, I ensured we reinforced any closely desired behavior and Anne began to pick up on it quickly. We (Emily and I) determined Anne was magazine trained when she consistently would move from the lever to the pellet delivery housing to receive her treat. Anne's behavior resembled confusion and curiosity in the early minutes of being in the operant conditioning box. She appeared a bit skittish and nervous about the box and looked all around the box before she even approached the corner where the lever is at. Anne would chew on the light frequently but eventually (about 9-11 minutes into the training session) began to understand the lever, we finally considered her magazine trained at 18 minutes when she understood the light going off meant a treat was coming. The class discussion on magazine training in operant conditioning felt fairly accurate to the experience. Magazine training is the learning process for the animal to understand and associate the mechanism (the lever) with the reinforcer (the chocolate pellets). Anne did understand the association between reinforcers and the mechanism, this was due in part to her hunger and desire to eat her beloved chocolate pellets.