Welcome to Sniffypedia (Sniffy the Virtual Rat Pro 2.0 wiki)

Description

"Sniffy," a computerized simulation of a live rat, will be used by students to enhance the understanding of Pavlovian and Operant Conditioning principles discussed in class.

 

Purpose

The purposes of these exercises are to:

1. Deepen your understanding of learning concepts discussed in class.
2. Apply research methods used in studying animal behavior.
3. Develop teamwork skills in preparation for future employment or education.
   

 

The Sniffy manual contains instructions for the exercises you will complete. In some cases, I will have you read parts of the manual that discuss the theory and background before having you complete the accompanying exercises. 

 

How to Access Sniffy

The Sniffy program is installed on 6 iMac computers in the Gregg Technology Center.  To access Sniffy, you must Double-click the “Sniffy Pro” icon on the WINDOWS desktop.

The Sniffy worksheets are linked from D2L.  

 

Where do I get the Sniffy Manual?

The manuals will be available for 3-day checkout from the circulation desk at the library (located at the south end of the 3rd floor). You can re-checkout the manual after a relatively short waiting period (I think the library's policy is 1 hour after you return it). There are 18 copies of the Sniffy manual on reserve so I recommend you work together with other students to reduce the number of students who need a manual at the same time.

 

Saving Your Data Files

Depending on the Sniffy exercise, you will either use files that you saved from earlier exercises or you will start an exercise with a new Sniffy file (see the specific instructions at the beginning of each exercise). Use the file names that are suggested in the manual for each exercise and save them to a USB drive.  When running Windows on a Mac, the USB drive is a mapped network drive.  You can find it by clicking on Start => Computer => Network Location => Look for the name of the USB device => Double click the device to open.

If you don't see the movement ratio window or mind windows when you open a saved data file, you can make them visible by clicking on the "Windows" menu item in the Sniffy program.

 

General Sniffy Help

• If you accelerate time in Sniffy, don't let it keep running after the experiment is over, or Sniffy will go to sleep and won't wake up!  You'll have to restart the experiment with a new Sniffy data file.
• You can turn off the sound under the menu item "File" and "Preferences" (sound proof cage).

Need some pre-made Sniffy files?

You can find the sample Sniffy files in the installation folder of the computer, or linked from the shortcuts in the start menu under "Sniffy Pro for Windows."  The ShapeBP.sdf file is Sniffy already trained to press the lever, and the VR-25.sdf file is Sniffy trained in a VR-25 schedule of reinforcement.

Help for Specific Exercises

• Exercise 1: Basic acquisition
• Exercise 2: Extinction (Pavlovian Conditioning)
• Exercise 3: Spontaneous recovery
• Exercise 8: Overshadowing
• Exercise 12: Sensory preconditioning
• Exercise 22: Magazine training
• Exercise 23: Shaping
• Exercise 24: Cumulative Recorders
• Exercise 25: Extinction (Operant Conditioning)
• Exercise 31: Placing Sniffy on a small VR schedule
• Exercise 32: Increasing the value of Sniffy’s VR schedule
• Exercise 36: The effect of Partial Reinforcement on Extinction
• Exercise 37: Simple Tone-On S plus discrimination learning
• Exercise 38: Stimulus generalization after simple S plus discrimination
• Exercise 41: S plus and S minus discrimination learning
• Exercise 42: Stimulus generalization after S plus, S minus Discrimination 

License

This electronic presentation to be used with ALLOWAY/WILSON/GRAHAM. Sniffy the Virtual Rat Pro, Version 2.0 (withCD-ROM), 2E. From ALLOWAY/WILSON/GRAHAM. Sniffy the Virtual Rat Pro, Version 2.0 (with CD-ROM), 2E. © 2005 Wadsworth, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission. Text/images may not be modified or reproduced in any way without prior written permission of the publisher. www.cengage.com/permissions