Problem or Challenge that Occurred

     While training Betty, I had very few problems. The first challenge I faced while trying to train Betty was keeping her interested in the lever. On some days, she would do really well with pressing the lever, and other days she would rather sniff around in the front left side of the operant box. I think this challenge was due to Betty being in a new environment and trying to become accustomed to it. The second problem I had occurred on the first FR1 training day. The operant box was not dispensing the pellets, so we switched from Box 2 to Box 1 for the day. The problem was due to the operant box getting clogged. 

    To fix the first problem, we kept reinforcing Betty every time she went to the back corner of the operant box and when she was close to the lever to ensure she stayed interested. We emailed Dr. Trench about the box to fix the second problem and moved Betty to Box 1 for training that day. The only thing I think would have solved my problem is trying to unclog the food dispenser myself instead of emailing Dr. Trench, so we wouldn't have had to switch Betty's box for the day.

    My training could have been improved by giving a lot of reinforcements during shaping and changing schedules back to what was comfortable if Betty was not performing as well in the advanced schedule.