Dr. Mike Perone’s Laboratory

Fundamental Behavioral Processes

 Each REU student who joins my group will work with my graduate students and me on several projects in our lab, and they also will conduct an experiment of their own.

 Research in our lab is designed to help us understand fundamental processes that underlie human and animal behavior. Ongoing experiments are concerned with (a) how pigeons choose between relatively hard and easy ways to earn food, (b) factors that influence whether rats will learn to avoid a timeout from positive reinforcement, and (c) disruptions in behavior that are caused when pigeons can tell when a relatively rich opportunity to earn food is replaced with a relatively poor opportunity.

 Each student will conduct an experiment of their own with rats as subjects. One direction involves explorations of rats’ sensitivity to light. Rats are known to prefer dim light to bright light, but it is unclear whether dim light is reinforcing and bright light is punishing. Another direction involves finding out if rats’ behavior is disrupted as much as pigeons’ behavior when rich opportunities to earn food are replaced by poor ones.

 The REU students would also participate in a weekly seminar with the graduate students and other undergraduate students in my lab group. This summer, we will read and discuss a new book by Edward A. Wasserman entitled “As If By Design: How Creative Behaviors Really Evolve.”

 Subjects/participants: White Carneau pigeons and Sprague Dawley rats.

 Subjects/participants: Sprague Dawley rats that have already been tamed by two semesters’ of handling by students in the Behavior Principles course.

 Requirements/restrictions: None beyond the standard.

Visit Dr. Perone’s website to learn more about Mike and his research.