Synopses & Reviews
Meet SNIFFY, THE VIRTUAL RAT! Using this CD-ROM and lab manual, you will get a hands-on experience in setting up and conducting experiments that demonstrate the phenomena of classical and operant conditioning using Sniffy the digital rat. Sniffy includes fifty exercises that cover every major phenomena typically covered in a Psychology of Learning course. The CD-ROM comes with a Lab Manual that walks you through the steps necessary to set up classical and operant conditioning experiments that closely resemble the experiments discussed in learning texts. Throughout each, a series of "Mind Windows" allows you to visualize how Sniffy's experiences in the chamber produce psychological changes.
About the Author
Tom Alloway was trained by Winifred Hill at Northwestern University and is an expert in animal behavior, specifically ants, as well as operant and classical conditioning. He's the former chair at UT-Mississauga. Greg Wilson runs his own software company and created the first version of Sniffy over 10 years ago. Jeff Graham was trained in cognitive psychology and neural network models of memory. He teaches the computer component of introductory psychology at University of Toronto at Mississuaga with over 1200 students per year.
Table of Contents
Preface: Installing Sniffy Pro. 1. Introduction to Sniffy. 2. Introduction to Classical Conditioning. 3. Basic Phenomena of Classical Conditioning: Acquisition, Extinction, Spontaneous Recovery, and Stimulus Intensity Effects. 4. Compound Conditioning, Blocking, Overshadowing, and Overexpectation. 5. Inhibitory Conditioning. 6. Associative Structures in Classical Conditioning: Sensory Preconditioning and Higher-Order Conditioning. 7. The Nature of the Association in Classical Conditioning. 8. Habituation, Sensitization, Background Conditioning, and the CS and US Pre-Exposure Effects. 9. Introduction to Operant Conditioning. 10. Basic Operant Phenomena: Magazine Training, Shaping, Extinction, Spontaneous Recovery, and Secondary Reinforcement. 11. The Effects of Punishment on Response Elimination. 12. Schedules of Reinforcement. 13. Stimulus Discrimination and Stimulus Generalization. 14. Shaping Behaviors Other Than Bar Pressing. Appendix: How to Manage Your Sniffy Files.