Watch out Kobe - the "Rat"hletes are coming!

College classes recently highlighted in the press show that garden-variety rats can become Olympic class athletes and hoop stars through teaching using shaping (gradually moving to a final desired behavior by starting with a baby-step approximation) and positive reinforcement (rewarding desired behavior vs. punishing undesired behavior).

Students turn rodents into (basketball) team players
Gary Glancy
GoUpstate.com
Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 9, 2009 at 1:04 a.m.

"...Throughout this semester, [Alliston] Reid's students in the freshman introductory course [behavior analysis psychology class at Wofford College] have been working in teams of two to individually train each of the 12 rats to compete one-on-one in a 2-by-1-foot makeshift hoops court created to scale by Reid.

To score, the rats pick up a small ceramic ball with their paws or -- in the case of the advanced ones -- their teeth, and dunk it through a basket. The incentive is a tasty food pellet; the psychological basis is classic positive reinforcement.

"The reason (for doing this) is, first, it's fun for the students, and second, the series of behaviors is the exact same techniques you would use to train children as parents, or if you're a coach training athletes," said Reid, who added the rats also enjoyed and looked forward to playing. "The behavioral principles for learning are exactly the same..."

Positive reinforcement leads to a record-setting rat
COLLEEN KENNEY / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, December 7, 2009 12:45 am

The power of positive reinforcement

" ...The other day, the professor turned Mitch and the other students into lab rats. She gave them pieces of paper. Written on each was a command, such as 'Stand against a wall' or 'Jump on your left foot.'

She paired them into teams of two.
One trainer, one 'rat.'
The 'rats' had to figure out what to do by asking questions. In the first exercise, the trainers could only answer 'yes.' (reinforcement for making the right choice )

It was pretty easy.

But the second time, the trainers could only answer 'no.' (punishment for making the wrong choice)
It took longer to figure it out. It wasn't as much fun..."

Rat Basketball at COSI Science Center




Other interesting related articles and sites:

Rat Basketball
Wofford College Psychology

Xtreme Rat Challenge
Nebraska Wesleyan University

Basketball Playing Rats 
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Teaching High School Psychology blog

Rat Basketball Show at COSI/Center of Science and Industry, Columbus OH

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Check out the Dissemination of Behavior Analysis Special Interest Group (DBA-SIG)
of
the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI).