Shaping

Anne was in the operant conditioning box for 26:55 and hand 120 lever hits with 38 hand switch clicks on the 2nd day. The majority of the hand switch clicks were at the beginning to reinforce any behavior close to pressing the lever (touching, biting, or being within proximity). To shape the behavior we would reward Anne when she would approach the back corner of the cage where the lever is housed. Once we felt she had a sufficient understanding to go to the lever, she was rewarded anytime she touched or bit the lever. Anne seemed to associate the lever with treats moderately well on the first day of shaping but we continued with shaping on the 2nd day to ensure she correctly understood the lever press and light turning off meant a treat was coming.