LEARNING LAB WORKBOOK

(1)

LEARNING LAB WORKBOOK

DOC-LLW Version 1

Learning Lab Workbook

Published by Med Associates Inc., P.O. Box 319, St. Albans, Vermont 05478 (802) 527-2343, FAX (802) 527-5095 Web site: www.med-associates.com.

(2)

O CREATE A GRAPH DISPLAYING

TWO

DEPENDENT VARIABLES

... 9

(

EX

: R

UN

R

ATE

& O

VERALL

R

ATE

):... 9

T

O CREATE A GRAPH DISPLAYING

ONE

DEPENDENT VARIABLE

... 10

(

EX

: P

AUSE

L

ENGTH

): ... 10

A

GRAPH WITH

E

RROR

B

ARS

: ... 12

T

O CREATE A CUMULATIVE RECORD

: ... 12

Basic Method Section Rundown: ... 14

Lab Partners info:

... 15

Weight Sheet………..……….17

Weight Control……….………..18

(3)

IACUC Training & Certification

1. Go to www.researchtraining.org

2. At the bottom of the page, click on "Web Courses & Exams".

3. Click on "new user".

4. Select a username (whatever you wish; 4 to 50 characters in length)

5. Select a password (8 to 12 characters).

6. Click "continue".

7. Select "link my records to my institution".

8. On the next page, scroll down and highlight "University of North Carolina Wilmington".

Then click "I have selected my institution".

9. Fill out the form. (Job title: student)

10. Click "submit".

11. Select "Courses Menu".

12. Scroll down to the very bottom of the page. You will see a box entitled "Working with

the UNC Wilmington IACUC". Click on "Course" (to the right of it).

13. Read through all of the lessons. To navigate through, either click on the arrow at the top

of the page or on a specific lesson title (listed on the left).

14. When you are finished, click on "Courses & Exams" at the top of the page.

15. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Exam" (next to Working with the UNC

Wilmington IACUC).

16. Click on the link to generate the exam.

17. There are 25 questions. Answer them all. Keep in mind that you are not required to pass

this exam, it is simply to familiarize yourself with issues concerning animal research.

However, if you do pass the exam (congratulations!), print out a certificate & show it off.

(4)

Interval 0 10 20 30 40 Response Rat e (respon ses/ se c) 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Run Rate Overall Rate Session 3: 09-16-04 FR 15

Session 3: 09-16-04

Interval 0 10 20 30 40 Pau se Du ra tion ( se c) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 FR 15

Guidelines for on-point LAB Cats

GRAPHS:

1. Rate graph from each session

(5)

P a u s e D u ra tio n A c ro s s S e s s io n s

S e s s io n

2 4 6 8 1 0 1 2 1 4 1 6 1 8

Me

an Pa

use

Du

ra

tion (se

c)

0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5 3 0 3 5 F R 5 - F R 1 0 _{F R 1 5}

R a te s A c r o s s S e s s io n s

S e s s io n 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5 Me an Re sp on se Ra te ( re sp /se c) 0 .0 0 .2 0 .4 0 .6 0 .8 1 .0 1 .2 1 .4 1 .6 1 .8 R u n R a te O v e ra ll R a te F R 5 - F R 1 0 _{F R 1 5} E X T

3. Big Rate graph (means across sessions)

(6)

5. Cumulative Records from each session (in .jpeg format)

(7)

Article Search :

Your report must incorporate 7 published sources, 3 of which you may share with your lab partners, with the remaining 4 being original, appearing in only your lab report.

There are a handful of excellent online research resources…..Go to www.google.com and type in one of the following :

JEAB PubMed Highwire Press

Hot keywords will depend on the specific study that you are conducting…..ask if you’re unsure what you’re searching for.

(8)

Lab Instructions

Before you begin your experiment:

1. Weigh your animal. Make sure the scale is on and reads to zero before you place your animal inside. If it doesn’t, push the “ON/OFF/TARE” button before you begin. Record your animals’ weight. If its weight fluctuates more than 10 grams in either direction, tell the graduate student.

2. Make sure the feeder is full of pellets.

To start the experiment:

1. Double click the yellow icon labeled “MED-PC IV”. 2. Click “next” twice.

3. Select “FR” from the list, then click “next”. 4. Fill out the form:

- In the “Subject” box, type your animal’s name.

- In the “Experiment” box, type the session’s schedule parameters (ex. FR 5) or whatever the graduate student tells you to.

- In the “Group” box, type your group’s names, or your team name.

- In the “Comments” box, write anything you might want to remember about the session or just leave it blank.

ÖÖÖÖÖMUY IMPORTANTE: In the “Optional Custom Filename” box, just CLICK ON THE FOLDER ICON. Then

double click on the folder with your group’s names. Then in the box labeled “File name” type today’s date. Click the “open” box. If everything is lookin’ good, click “next”.

5. Click “next” again.

6. Another form will appear. Ask the graduate student for the session’s values. On most days, you’ll only be changing the fixed ratio value. Click “next” at the bottom of the page.

7. Click “continue” twice.

8. Your experiment screen should appear & the house light & white cue light (the light above the lever) should illuminate. If anything doesn’t seem correct, bug the graduate student.

(9)

During the experiment:

1. Take notes. Write down a description (topography, frequency & duration) of a particular behavior, the variables that you’re manipulating & their values, their subsequent effects on behavior, anything unusual, or anything else you feel like (there are pages at the end of this workbook for notes).

2. To modify any variable during the session, click on “Configure” in the top left corner or the ∆X box. Then in the bottom left corner (under “Display Data from Box”), put a dot next to the number 1 (just click inside the dot). Then click the “Named Variables” box in the upper right corner. Change any values you need to, then click the “Issue” box, then the “Close” box.

3. If you have to end the session before it automatically times out, just click “File” in the upper left corner & select “Close Session”. Make sure the dot is next to the first option and put a check mark next to the number 1 (under “Boxes”…just click inside the box), then click the “OK” box. Then click the x in the upper right corner of your experiment screen. This places all your data right into your folder.

To retrieve data:

1. Go to the “Start” menu in the bottom left hand corner. 2. Then click on “My Computer”.

3. Double click on “Local Disc (C:)”. 4. Click on “MED-PC IV”.

5. Then select “Data”.

6. Double click on the folder with your groups’ names.

7. You’ll see a list of dates. They are all raw data files, written in cryptic computer language, so you’ll have to transfer each file you want to analyze into another program (MED-PC to Excel) so it can translate it to

something meaningful that you can read & analyze.

You have two options: save it to a disk or email it to yourself. Either way is fine.

8. To save the file(s) to a disk, just right click on the file. “Send to” which ever type of disk you have (Floppy disk (A:) or Removable Disk (D:)…this is a zip disk). To email the file to yourself, open up your email account & select the attachments option. Browse through the pathway

listed in steps 1 thru 7. Then send it. When you open up your email account on another lab computer, save the file to either the desktop or the hard drive so you can access it in un memento.

(10)

To create an Excel spreadsheet:

1. Open up Excel and minimize it. 2. Click on the “MED-PC to EXCEL” icon.

3. (Make sure you are in the screen under the top left tab which reads “Transfer Data”). 4. You’ll only be using the bottom half of this page, under the heading of “Table Transfer”.

5. Click on the “Select” box. (Its the second one down on the page).

6. The drop-down box at the very top of the screen should read “Desktop”. (If it doesn’t, just click the down arrow inside the “Look in” box & select desktop).

7. Select the “FR.MPT” file & click the “Open” box.

8. Click the box that reads “Transfer!”. In the drop-down menu at the top, select the location of your data (wherever you saved it: floppy or zip). Then click the date you wish to see & make sure it appears in the file name box at the bottom of the screen. Then click the “open” box.

9. Close the screen, you’re finished with it (click the red X in the right corner).

10. Open up your Excel spreadsheet (entitled Book 1). That’s your data. You gotta clean it up though. So, minimize it.

11. Then, double click the “TEMPLATE” icon on the desktop. 12. Click on the “Book 1” tab at the bottom of your screen.

13. Highlight Row 2 and copy it. (It’s the horizontal row containing the date, start time, end time, subject

& group name). To copy, just right click & select copy.

14. Click on the “TEMPLATE” tab & paste your information into ROW 2. To paste, just right click on the cell you wish to place your data into & select paste.

15. Go back to Book 1 and highlight & copy the first three columns only (entitled Interval, Run Time & Pause Time). Only copy the numbers, not the titles and no blank columns please. Paste them into the template. Your numbers should start in Row 5.

16. Go back to Book 1 & copy the remaining column (entitled Number of Responses) & paste it into the appropriate column in the template.

17. Yeah! Your spreadsheet is done. Just save it as the date of the session. Just a little note: you’ll want each of your lab partners to have a copy of the data from each session. Email the file to each other or bring some disks. You’re responsible for maintaining your own data, which you’ll definitely need for your lab report, so make sure everybody in your group has a copy, its only hip. Good job.

(11)

SigmaPlot:

- To open up SigmaPlot, click on the start menu on the desktop, and SigmaPlot 8.0 will be listed. Select it.

To create a graph, you’ll need to copy the appropriate data from your Excel spreadsheet & paste it into the SigmaPlot spreadsheet (so you’ll have both SigmaPlot & Excel open at the same time).

To create a graph displaying TWO dependent variables

(ex: Run Rate & Overall Rate):

1. Open up the Excel spreadsheet which contains the data you wish to graph.

2. Copy the column entitled “interval” (but DO NOT copy the word interval, ONLY the numbers below it). 3. Paste it into column ONE on the SigmaPlot spreadsheet.

4. Go back to the Excel Spreadsheet and copy the column entitled “Run Rate” (again, as a rule, do not copy the words, only the numbers).

5. Paste it into column TWO on the SigmaPlot spreadsheet.

6. Go back to the Excel Spreadsheet and copy the column entitled “Overall Rate”. 7. Paste it into column THREE on the SigmaPlot Spreadsheet.

8. Next, look to the panel on the far left side of the screen. Go to the THIRD little picture down on the far left (Line and Scatterplot) & click on it. A box will appear; click on the SECOND picture down on the left (Multiple Line & Scatter).

9. A box will appear. Click on X MANY Y. (This just means that for every point on the X-axis, you want to plot 2 points on the Y-axis).

10. Next, you’ll want to put the columns into the appropriate slots. So, take the mouse on to your data so that an arrow like this appears Ø. Then click on the 1st_column_{. It will highlight it and}

place it next to the X on your screen. 11. Next click on the 2nd_column_{the same way.}

12. Click on the 3rd_column_.

13. The box should read as follows:

X: Column 1

Y1: Column 2

Y2: Column 3 14. Then click Finish.

(12)

Interval

0 10 20 30 40

Response

Rate (response

s/sec)

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 Run Rate Overall Rate Session 3: 09-16-04 FR 15

15. Your graph will appear. To make it resemble the example below, simply double click on the generic labels & type in whatever you wish to title your axes. (For example: double click on the label “Y

Data”, and type in “Response Rate”. When you click off of it, it will appear in place).

To create a graph displaying ONE dependent variable

(ex: Pause Length):

1. Open up the Excel spreadsheet which contains the data you wish to graph.

2. Copy the column entitled “interval” (but DO NOT copy the word interval, ONLY the numbers below it).

3. Paste it into column ONE on the SigmaPlot spreadsheet.

4. Go back to the Excel Spreadsheet and copy the column entitled “Pause Time”. 5. Paste it into column TWO on the SigmaPlot spreadsheet.

6. Next, look to the panel on the far left side of the screen. Go to the THIRD little picture down on the far left (Line and Scatterplot) & click on it. A box will appear; click on the FIRST picture down on the left (Simple Straight Line & Scatter).

7. A box will appear. Click on XY Pair. (This just means that for every point on the X-axis, you want to plot only one on the Y-axis).

8. Next, you’ll want to put the columns into the appropriate slots. So, take the mouse on to your data so that an arrow like this appears Ø. Then click on the 1st_column_{. It will highlight it and}

place it next to the X on your screen.

(13)

Session 3: 09-16-04

Interval 0 10 20 30 40 Pau se Du ra tion ( se c) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 FR 15

10. The box should read as follows: X: Column 1

Y1: Column 2

11. Then click Finish (example on next page).

(14)

Rates Across Sessions

Session 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 Me an Re sp on se Ra te (re sp /sec ) 0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

Mean Run Rate Mean Overall Rate FR 5 - FR 15

FR 20

FR 60 FR 20

A graph with Error Bars:

* This graph is made using data you already have in your other SigmaPlot graphs. You will derive the mean & standard deviation from your data sets and graph them. It’s a little tricky...you might want to ask the graduate student for some help. This example will be how to set up a graph with TWO dependent measures & error bars.

To create a cumulative record:

1. This must be done on the computer at the station you work at every lab session. To begin, click on the rat icon on the desktop labeled “SoftCR”.

2. Click on “File” in the upper left hand corner.

3. Select “Open”.

4. In the bottom drop-down menu, select: All Files.

5. In the top drop-down menu, go to Local Disk:C; then Med-PC IV; then Data; then click on the folder with the name of your lab group. Then double-click on the date of the session you wish to view.

6. Click OK.

7. A window with parameters will appear...just click OK.

8. Your cumulative record should appear.

9. To change the length of the X-axis (everything else should be okay, but you’ll sometimes need to change the axes length): go to “File”, then “Edit Parameters”. The X-axis (horizontal) displays the

length of the session, alter it to the approximate duration of the session.

(15)

11. If you want to make another cumulative record, just repeat the steps above.

12. If you’re done, close the program.

13. Next, you’ll have to change the format of the cumulative record from a .bmp (bitmap) to a .jpeg (JPEG) file. To do this, go to the desktop and open Paint Shop Pro.

14. Close the Helpful Tip (it’s usually not so helpful).

15. Go to “File”; then “Open”. (Look for it wherever you saved it; either to a disk or your desktop folder).

16. You can twist & turn, crop & stretch & flip it upside down. Make it look sharp. You can add labels now, or once you put it in Word (I’ll give a personal recommendation to add all text in Word).

17. To save it, got to “File”; then “Save As”; then MAKE SURE to change the file type in the drop down menu

from .bmp to JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg, ect.)

18. Save itto your desktop folder& to your disk.

19. Now your .jpeg file can be placed into Word (even within the text), PowerPoint, or wherever.

FR 15

Session 10: 10-14-04

Ô It is very wise to have all your data, graphs & cumulative records saved in multiple places: backup disks, CDs, on the hard drive, your home computer, your email account, etc. Also, be sure your lab partners have copies as well.

(16)

Basic Method Section Rundown:

Subject - ONE male Sprague Dawley rat (Harlan Intl., Indianapolis, IN) - experimentally naïve

- approximately 230 grams at the beginning of the experiment - maintained at 85% of free-feeding weight

- food deprived about 23 hours prior to session

- individually housed in a temperature and humidity controlled environment - 12:12 reverse light/dark cycle (sessions conducted in the dark component)

Apparatus - for description, go to www.med-associates.com

- on the menu on the left, click on the orange bar entitled "Operant Behavior"; "Operant Conditioning Test Chambers"; then click on "Standard Rat"; (ENV-008 Standard Modular Test Chamber); a full description is provided.

(17)

Lab Partners info:

LAB PARTNERS:

EMAIL ADDRESSES:

GRAD STUDENT TA:

EMAIL ADDRESS:

(18)

(19)

(20)

(21)

(22)

(23)

(24)

(25)

(26)

LEARNING LAB WORKBOOK