Theories Behind Habits On The Brain Reacts And Performs Tasks Without Much Thought

PURPOSE: The purpose of this experiment is to encourage discrimination in rat #4, to measure how the rat distinguishes between pressing the lever when a light is on, and when it is off. Discrimination is the tendency for behavior to occur in situations that are very similar to the one in which the behavior was learned, but not in situations that differ from it. Therefore, as the lamp light was on while the rat was learning to press the lever in previous experiments, the tendency for the rat to discriminate when the light is on, or off, will be measured in this experiment.

In " The Neurology of Free Will," Charles Duhigg puts a special importance on habits –their inner working and how they can change. Duhigg describes how habits work through the cycle of cue, routine, and reward. Angie Bachmann from being a bored housewife to losing all her money through uncontrollable gambling.

He does so by using a clicker and then rewarding the rat with banana and peanut butter. This method causes the rat to associate the clicking with food. This process is similar to B.F. Skinner’s experiment in which he rewarded a rat with food if it pressed the lever when a light was turned on (Pierce and Cheney, 2013). Operant conditioning was evident when the pressing of the lever increased if there was a light (Pierce and Cheney, 2013). After the rat made the connection that every time there is a click a reward follows, it learned to “stick the nose in the hole under which a target scent is placed” (Weetjens, 2010). Since the rat has now emitted such as behavior, the rat is then taught to smell ten holes rather than just one (Weetjens, 2010). The more reinforcements that the rat is given the more it sniffs out the targeted smell. The reinforcements are necessary in order for the rat to understand what exactly it is supposed to do and because it increases the desired behavior therefore, the food in this case stands as a positive reinforcement. This is also visible when Weetjens shows a clip in which a man is seen holding a leash with a rat and the rat is sniffing around the soil and proceeds to finding a mine, afterwards the rat expects a reward for finding the mine (Weetjens, 2010). In order for the rat to continue

Group D had begun the experiment with similar results as Group N––with many mistakes––but after the initial 10 days of no reward followed by food rewards, Group D ended the experiment with very little mistakes, like Group C. This experiment proved that the rats really did know where they were at within the maze––especially Group D––and that within the first 10 days they had spent in the maze they were actually building a mental representation of the maze, or a cognitive map. In the "spatial orientation experiment" (Hock 113), the results concluded that the highest number of rats selected path 6 as their route; path 6 was the route that led almost directly to the location of the food reward, and this supported the idea that the rats had not only built a cognitive map of the maze, but could comprehend in which general direction the location of the food reward was in relation to the rats' starting point. Why is this study significant to the field of

Experimentation on habit formation revealed that organisms establish neural connections of best practices and lessons learned in order to achieve an objective; therefore, the consciousness acts as a guide to success (Clark, 2004). Specifically, the organism maintains the ability to recognize or sense stimuli; due to this belief, functionalist asserted that research on the stimulus is secondary to understanding the method organisms’ process information.

Lately, we, the seventh grade of SLCS have been learning about the brain and the five senses. We have gained a better understanding of how our five senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. We have been taught how electric signals are sent to our frontal lobe to compare each experience with another event we have been through in our lives. To test our knowledge further, we conducted an experiment comprised of eight mice and mazes. We will execute this experiment by following the steps of the scientific method: asking questions, developing a hypothesis, collecting data, and analyzing results. We set a mouse into the one of the four mazes and recorded the time they completed the maze and came out. The mice had to use their senses in order

All of us have formed habits in our daily life. Even though some of these habits only exist in our subconscious and we cannot actually make sure whether they are real or only the conjectures. But it is undoubted that all of our behaviors are influenced by our desires on specific objectives. In the book, the power of habit, Charles Duhigg explained the definition of a habit as an effort-saving instinct. “When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making” (20). To support his opinions on habits, he introduced the three-step model of a habit loop, the theory of golden rule of habit, and the role of a craving brain and belief in the process of a habit changing. Through learning

As I read, I sought to know what amount of power did habits truly have. Gratefully, I gained knowledge of just that. Terms Learned Along the Way The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg used the following

This experiment was conducted by Hodos (1961) to find the largest number of responses a rat will make to obtain a reward, otherwise known as the break point. Four albino rats were used as subjects and trained to lever press in order to receive 0.05 ml of condensed milk. Free feeding rats were placed on a progressive ratio schedule during which the number of responses needed for a reinforcer increased each time by two (two, four, six, etc). The condensed milk was diluted with varying amounts of water on various days of the experiment. An indirect relationship was found between- the rates of responding declined (lower break points) as the level of milk dilution increased. The rats were retested at on a restricted feeding schedule during which

Group A and group B were both deprived of food 24 hours before the task, but on different days. This test is based on the innate fear rats have to open spaces, but has the added component of motivation since the animals have been food deprived (Stedenfeld et al. 2011). The open field apparatus we used was (Insert dimensions), and had a layer of corncob bedding to prevent the rats from slipping on the slick floor of the apparatus. In the middle of the apparatus was a container with crushed up Harlan chow and one fruit loop on top. The rats were then put into a corner of the open field apparatus and were allowed 15 minutes to explore and eat. We recorded their latency to eat, beginning and final mass of food in container, rearing, grooming freezing, number of fecal boli pellets, and how long they took to eat once they returned to their home cage. The rat was removed from the apparatus at the end of the 15-minute trial, and was returned to its home cage. We observed the rats in their home cage until they began to

Pavlov’s dog is the study of the psychological conditioning, a test where if a motion is repeated many times, it becomes a habit. This experiment was done on a dog, who was giving food every time a bell is ringed. The animal would salivate and find itself getting used to the sound of the bell and getting food each time the bell used. Take the food out of equation, the dog salivates at the idea of food. This shows that the dog creates a habit from basic needs. Humans are the same way, if you continuously give

We tend to think of habits as bad (smoking, cussing, biting your fingernails) but they can also be good (walking the dog, oatmeal for breakfast, a weekly date with your spouse). THE POWER OF HABIT shows how easily habits form. They rely on three simple things–a cue, a routine, and a reward–and don’t take long to stick. Our brains love habits. They allow us to be efficient. They help us do things like drive a car without constant self-monitoring. Once we learn where the brake pedal is and how hard to press the

Skinner’s reinforcement experiments conducted on rats showed the principles of operant conditioning. While working with rats, Skinner would place them in a Skinner box with a lever attached to a feeding tube. After multiple trials, rats learned the connection between the lever and food, and started to spend more time in the box procuring food than performing any other action. He used positive reinforcement, and negative reinforcement to produce or inhibit specific target behaviors. Therefore, if a specific behavior is reinforced then the probability of that behavior occurring again is increased. Based on Skinner’s view, this theory can be applied to learning because learning is nothing more than a change in behavior. Operant conditioning encourages positive reinforcement, which can be applied in the classroom environment to get the good behavior you want and need from students. One of the ways of reinforcing a student’s behavior is through praise. Also teachers can build operant conditioning techniques into their lesson plans to teach children possible skills as well as good behaviors. For example: to give a smiley face, or motivational stamps to encourage children to perform correctly and encourage them to repeat such action again.

B.F. Skinner’s theory of Operant Conditioning has at its foundation a desire to demonstrate a “cause and

We are creatures of habit. Whether they are good or bad, habits shape our actions and help us get through our days. As Charles Duhigg describes in his book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, habits “emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.” They are routines that automate parts of our behavior. Habits can be so firmly ingrained into our neural networks that we aren’t actually conscious of them, and we don’t need to put much thought to follow through them.