Mine Detection Rats: Effects of Repeated Extinction on Detection Accuracy

This article describes the performance of Giant African Pouched Rats where reinforcement (reward) or extinction (no reward) conditions affected landmine identification. Accuracy deteriorated quickly in the absence of reinforcement, suggesting that reinforcement is essential

Reinforcement for Operational Mine Detection Rats

When using animals for the detection of landmines, handlers face challenges of when to reinforce indication responses, as the actual location of landmines in the field is unknown. Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling(Anti-Personnel Landmine Detection Product Development or APOPO) evaluated an inexpensive method to reinforce rat-indication responses in field settings using TNT to contaminate ground area. Rat detection accuracy was high over the TNT contamination after an overnight soak period of 16 hours and detection accuracy decreased as a function of days passed since soaking

Evaluating Landmine-detection Rats in Operational Conditions

Researchers evaluate the accuracy of pouched rats’ ability to detect landmines under operational search conditions. Results indicate the ineffectiveness of one training method for maintaining quality operational performance and suggest further examination