Some Background: To begin the process of training Tortellini, I placed her on a diet that would result in her weighing 90% of her original weight. Her original weight measured 221g; therefore, her target weight was 199g. Food deprivation encourages the rats to work harder for their treats. I continued to weigh and feed Tortellini every day, keeping her weight as close to 199g as possible. Two days before beginning magazine training, I mixed the sugar pellets in with her typical food that way she would get used to them before training.
Magazine Training: Today's goal was for Tortellini to make an association between the sound of a treat being released into the hopper and where this hopper was located in the operant box. When I first released Tortellini into the operant box, she moved around and sniffed the ground. She also expressed some curiosity about the light because she would often stand on her hind legs, and sniff the light above the lever. Tortellini learned pretty quickly that the hopper was where to get food. To make sure that she understood the reward system, I would press the reinforcement button when she was on the other side of the cage not paying attention to the hopper. When she immediately reacted to the sound of the sugar pellet being released into the hopper and consumed it, I knew she was successfully magazine trained. This process took a total of 30 minutes. During this training session, Tortellini actually pressed the lever 3 times on her own. This process was very similar to magazine training Sniffy; however, Tortellini learned significantly faster than Sniffy did. I definitely recommend using both the live and virtual rats because the virtual rat prepares you for training the live rat.
Magazine Training: Today's goal was for Tortellini to make an association between the sound of a treat being released into the hopper and where this hopper was located in the operant box. When I first released Tortellini into the operant box, she moved around and sniffed the ground. She also expressed some curiosity about the light because she would often stand on her hind legs, and sniff the light above the lever. Tortellini learned pretty quickly that the hopper was where to get food. To make sure that she understood the reward system, I would press the reinforcement button when she was on the other side of the cage not paying attention to the hopper. When she immediately reacted to the sound of the sugar pellet being released into the hopper and consumed it, I knew she was successfully magazine trained. This process took a total of 30 minutes. During this training session, Tortellini actually pressed the lever 3 times on her own. This process was very similar to magazine training Sniffy; however, Tortellini learned significantly faster than Sniffy did. I definitely recommend using both the live and virtual rats because the virtual rat prepares you for training the live rat.
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| Tortellini showing interest in the lever |
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