Problems During Training

           For the most part, training Monica was an easy process.  We did not encounter any problems except on the very first day of training.  During the first training session, Monica had been in the operant box for about eight minutes when the power in Stephen’s Science Center went out.  Thankfully Dr. Trench was present during the session.  She took Monica out of the box immediately, which was very important.  If Monica had remained in the box while the power was out, she would not have received any reinforcement for her behavior and would have become confused.  This would have adversely affected our training process.  The power came back on about a minute later.  We had to restart the session, and estimate the time and number of pellets Monica received before the power went out.  Even though this was an inconvenience at the time, the experience helped prepare me for the rest of my training sessions.  Dr. Trench had brought to my attention the adverse affects that could occur from leaving the rat in the operant box without the program running.  After Monica learned to press the lever, she would go directly to the bar when I placed her in the box.  This knowledge was extremely important at this point because I knew to start the session before I put her in the box. 

I did not have any other problems while I was training, but I could have improved my training if I had been more consistent with the training days.  Because I scheduled my training sessions for 8:30 in the morning, I often struggled getting there to train her on time, causing only a few of the training sessions to start right at 8:30.