Brahmstedt, K. Emily

Dougan, Faculty Advisor, James D.

Ittner, Alisa

Digital Commons @ Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan UniversityDigital Commons @ IWUJohn Wesley Powell Student ResearchConference 2000, 11th Annual JWP ConferenceApr 15th, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PMEffects of a Simulated Predator on Free OperantRespondingAlisa IttnerIllinois Wesleyan UniversityK. Emily BrahmstedtIllinois Wesleyan UniversityJames D. Dougan, Faculty AdvisorIllinois Wesleyan UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprcThis Event is brought to you for free and open access by The Ames Library, the Andrew W. Mellon Center for Curricular and FacultyDevelopment, the Office of the Provost and the Office of the President. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digital Commons @ IWU bythe faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@iwu.edu.©Copyright is owned by the author of this document.Alisa Ittner; K. Emily Brahmstedt; and James D. Dougan, Faculty Advisor, "Effects of a Simulated Predator on FreeOperant Responding" (April 15, 2000). John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference. Paper 20.http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/jwprc/2000/posters2/20THE JOHN WESLEY POWELL STUDENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE ' APRIL 2000 Poster Presentation 20 EFFECTS OF A SIMULATED PREDATOR ON FREE OPERANT RESPONDING Alisa Ittner and K. Emily Brahmstedt and James D. Dougan* Department of Psychology, Illinois Wesleyan University The present experiment investigated whether the scent of a predator would alter responding of rats in a Skinner box. Six rats were trained to press a bar for food, and then pressed the bar in both the presence and absence of predator scent (red fox urine). The effect was measured by the latency of the first response and by the total responses in the session. Data were averaged across the six rats for each session. The results indicated that there was an effect on the bar pressing. There was a longer latency to first response compared to baseline, although the latency decreased over time, indicating habituation. This increased latency to first response is attributed to species­specific defense reactions, which are the rat's innate reaction to a new stimulus (Bolles, 1970). The habituation suggests a reduction in fear responses over time. Future research will need to address additional dimensions of the phenomenon. 

Effects of a Simulated Predator on Free Operant Responding

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Effects of a Simulated Predator on Free Operant Responding

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