[From: Dennis Delprato (920930)]
(From Rick Marken (920930.1100))
Dennis Delprato (920929)--
Any progress on the "Goal-Seeking with Random Consequences
of Responses" lab, Rick?
Nope. My kid took my computer so I can only work on it at work -- but that
would be wrong (to quote that great moral philosopher, R. M. Nixon).
I take that this also means you are "not a crook." Furthermore,
I'll trust you with my audiotapes any time.
But I think I would like to do the following: I would like to write
the lab in Basic. I would suggest that the lab be a study of
"reinforcement" and discriminative stimulus theory. Have them collect
data from a couple subjects; then have them try to explain the
results. They could choose from several models in the computer. Then
they could compare the behavior of the model to that of the subject.
The goal of the lab is to help the student understand that the concept
of reinforcement imples that there is a controlled perceptual variable --
in this case, what is controlled is the relative position of the moving
dot and one of the stationary dots on the screen.
I think it could be fun -- especially if you have a condition which
lets the experimenter manipulate the direction of the movement of the
dot after each press; once the experimenter has discovered the
controlled variable, he/she can then "control" the subject's bar
pressing rate by making the dot tend to move away from the target
dot after each press. So you can show that this kind of "control by rein-
forcement" is a consequence of the disturbance resistance characteristics
of a control system.
Go for it. But, to me this is a step above the present version of
the lab based on your E. coli study. The "Goal-Seeking With Random
Consequences of Responses" lab might best precede the one you have
just proposed. By way, I have access to several IBM compatibles, as
well as to the Macs.
I do feel that for purposes of instruction, it is a good policy to
keep things as simple as possible so as not to obscure the really
big points of PCT with matters that are best considered by the
more advanced student. Bill's Demo 1 and Demo 2 (not currently
in a form suitable for labs) nicely illustrate a gradual
build up in complexity.
Dennis Delprato
Dept. of Psychology
Eastern Mich. Univ.
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Psy_Delprato@emunix.emich.edu