Sniffy the Rat

Use Sniffy to perform the following experiment: Use forward chaining

to form a sequence of five separate topographies ending with a bar press.

Assignment #: 5.2

Comment on the occurrence of the US (unconditioned stimulus) and CS (conditioned

stimulus):

The conditioned stimulus is the sound of the lever of the bar. The unconditioned stimulus is the
food. Every time sniffy presses the lever he knows the food will come. Sniffy learned how to
beg, face wipe, clean genitals, back side near, and bar press.

Comment on the status of Sniffy’s psychological states:

Sniffy’s psychological states seemed frustrated because he wasn’t given food until the end of the
chain. Sniffy seemed very excited once he received his reinforcer. Sniffy’s fear and pain
sensitivity did not decrease or increase during this experiment.

Comment on Sniffy’s responses to the US and CS:

The response to the unconditioned stimulus is the food that he received and was that he was
hungry and wanted food, enough to work for it. The response to the conditioned stimulus was
that sniffy had to respond to the sound of the lever and received a reinforcer to the forward chain
such as a task analysis.

Summarize the Response Measures

Cumulative Record:

The response measures were decreasing at first from pressing the bar because he was not earning food un
What have you learned during this experiment (please include what you have learned
regarding Sniffy’s behavior and then how this would apply to practice)?

I have learned that it takes a while for an individual to learn how to learn a task analysis in forward chaining.
In this process you need to shape a lot of behaviors. I would apply this to
practice when an individual needs to learn how to wash their hands, or take a shower. A lot of
prompting would be needed for forward chaining. It is important for any individual to learn each
and every step. It may take months to learn the whole step of every chain.