I taught my cat how to high five!

Operant Conditioning is an incredibly powerful model for learning and it is the most popular technique used in animal (and human) training! Micah decided to wield its power to train the cats to give a high five and jump into his arms. Is operational conditioning strong enough for both tricks to succeed? B.F. Skinner, who is best known for his work on operational conditioning, believed that practically all behavior could be boiled down to a response based on past experiences and their consequences. Once you finish watching this video, you be the judge.

In this video, Micah defines and explains operant conditioning and how positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, and negative punishment can all be used to influence behavior. Of course, in this experiment, only positive reinforcement was used. Leave a comment below with your thoughts and feedback!

Check out some extra footage of the cats on Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-extended-18058398

Ryan M. Shaver, Carrie McKenzie, and Raymond Chin are our three Patreon Producers. Thanks you three! You’re like the familiar scent of nostalgia. Also, big shoutout to our newest patrons and folks who have increased their pledges: Up & Atom, Alex Dainis, Mary Smith, Susan Jones, and Memming Park!

Neuro Transmissions is a channel on a mission to bring neuroscience to everyone. It’s not rocket surgery, it’s brain science! Learn all sorts of fun and interesting things with Alie Astrocyte and Micah Psych every other Sunday by subscribing to the channel. Have a topic you want covered? Let us know in the comments. Share, like, and subscribe for more videos to come! Over and out.

Neuro Transmissions is on the other social medias too:
https://www.facebook.com/neurotransmissions
https://www.twitter.com/neuroyoutube
https://www.instagram.com/neurotransmissions
http://www.neurotransmissions.science
https://www.reddit.com/u/neuroyoutube/
Snapchat – @neuroyoutube

***Credits***

Footage from the following videos was used for educational purposes and falls under fair use:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drnnulHw5CM&t=50s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQtDTdDr8vs

All other content is original and/or owned by Neuro Transmissions.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Please follow and like us:
Twitter
Visit Us
Follow Me
RSS
LinkedIn
Share
Follow by Email

Follow HART Kahuna:
OMG! What happened to my eyes and where did all this green hair come from? :D
Latest posts from

14 Responses

  1. ARTexplains Science and History
    | Reply

    But can you cat a train?

  2. Carly Housenga
    | Reply

    Thanks so much for this video!! i have a new kitten and I am trying to train her tricks!! it is exciting….but I have no where to start. But you helped a lot!!! Thanks so much again!!

  3. ErebosGR
    | Reply

    Have you noticed a difference in successful attempts when wearing different shirts?
    Is it possible that Loki doesn't like certain colors?

  4. Astro Biological
    | Reply

    Fun video! Is Loki a bengal cat? Nice try with Loki. He's such a typical cat. Some of them just don''t give a damn!

  5. Viral Flow
    | Reply

    10:56 "What just happened?" -Bill the Cat

  6. 2 Minute Classroom
    | Reply

    I do not believe I have ever seen cats leashed. Do they respond well to it?

  7. 01001110 01010101 01001100 01001100
    | Reply

    Wait a second I think was missed an opportunity. It would be interesting to see if the rats have a concept of numbers or Counting. let's suppose we've trained a rat to receive Food via the lever or to receive a shock via the other level. if the levers functions are switched at regular intervals how long might it take for a rat to figure out the system so that they don't get shocked. Something tells me that a rat probably has the cognitive capacity to at least count to 3 and can figure out the system through experimentation in a rather short amount of time. Ethics aside the outcome would probably be interesting

  8. 500features
    | Reply

    Booo traitor! A dog person doesn't just switch side!

  9. Ever curious: Michelle
    | Reply

    I think when you got a bit higher Loki had troubles overcoming that new step. So then you may have found better success breaking it down into baby steps. So for starters, rewarding him for touching your legs with his paws while you're at that taller height, then for making an attempt at a jump, etc. The leap from jumping into a seated lap to jumping onto an inclined lap may have been too much for him to do all at once (pun intended).

  10. Jericho & Thunder The 2 Gray Cats
    | Reply

    Wow, "scrub the stairs leading to the scary basement" is oddly specific. 😄

  11. ᕼᑌᗰᗩᑎ ᖴᗴᒪᒪᗩ
    | Reply

    That ain't nuthin', my cat does my taxes and came up for a cure for cancer but the dog ate his notes so…

  12. Jom Cordova
    | Reply

    What's great in this video is that you showed that some trials also fail but with that failure, it opens possibilities and reasons why it ended up as such. That's how science should work, not publishing all positive stuffs. It really shows that there are matters that aren't in your control. Like Loki! Loki's in charge of you. Hahahahahahaha!

    AND OH. MY. GOD! I LOVE IT! IT SO FUN SEEING THEIR PROGRESS! And your patience is amazingly long!

  13. Willem van de Beek
    | Reply

    Can Loki even jump that high? How old is Loki? As my cat got older she did not have the energy anymore to jump one and a half meter up…

  14. Neurotyczny Kot
    | Reply

    step 1: High five
    step 2: World dominance

Leave a Reply to 01001110 01010101 01001100 01001100 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *