The journey from your car to the classroom where the rats are to be dropped off is always a fun one. I guess most students aren’t used to seeing rodents so early in the morning.

 

“Walking to class, I always hear people whispering from a distance, ‘Hey look! He’s carrying a small animal!’ None of them really confront me about it, though.” says Benson Tran, a senior at Clark. “I just weep walking. I don’t want to cause too much attention. That’s why I keep a blanket over it.”

 

Every year, students taking AP Psychology are required to buy a rat and train their furry new friend to run through an obstacle filled course. Previous years were run by Mr. Miller, former Psychology teacher here at Clark. But this year, the tradition has been passed down onto Mr. Rehfieldt, an Honors World History teacher.

 

“[My first semester has been] really fun,” says Mr. Rehfieldt. “I feel like I’m learning a lot as I’m teaching it, and I hope the students are too.”

 

The objective of this project is to learn more about and understand better the concept of conditioning. And rather than jotting down boring notes or filling out generic worksheets, students are given the opportunity to have a more hands-on experience.

 

“It’s awesome,” says Mr. Rehfieldt. “It’s a great way to learn about operant conditioning, and I think that students who aren’t used to working with animals are getting experience with that too. I hope most groups will be successful in getting their rat to learn the maze.”

 

Conditioning is a process of learning either through positive or negative reinforcement. Basically, we’re either rewarding or punishing our rat when it does a good or bad task, respectively.

 

“It’s only been a few days since the project has started, but I have been enjoying it so far,” says Mikel Ramos, a junior in AP Psychology. “However, our rat hasn’t really been cooperating. First attempts to condition have failed.”

 

It’s important to remember that these are only rats, and don’t learn at a rate nearly as fast as humans. That’s why this project takes over two months to complete. You need to be patient with your rat.

 

“So far, nothing has gone wrong and our rat is just getting familiar with the levels,” says senior Abby Escala. “I’m a patient person, so I can’t wait to see how Hamlet advances with proper conditioning.”

 

If you see one of these little guys in the halls, feel free to say hi. Rats love social interaction and you could brighten someone’s morning.