For Title Page:
Title: Taming Effects of Traumatic Compression of the House Fly.
Author Name & Affiliation: student (s) submitting paper
Running Head:Taming Effects of Compression
Header Text: Taming Effects
Abstract
Twenty-four flies were randomly assigned to either the traumatic compression condition in which a direct blow was administered or to the sham compression condition in which the blow was administered beside the subjects. Taming was defined as making no attempt to flee or attack when touched. It was hypothesized that greater taming would occur in the traumatic compression condition. Results showed that flies in the traumatic compression condition were significantly less tense and more quiescent than those in the sham compression group. These differences appeared to be long lasting. Taming was assumed to result from physiological changes in the subjects. It was concluded that there are some taming techniques that can be used effectively with the house fly.
Introduction:
*Citations:
Enrichment of early experience in Musca domestica by Arthur Smedley. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol 23, 1965, pages 117-128.
Adam Smith and George K. Jones, 1962, vol 37, pages 216-219 (Animalistic Behavior) Counterconditioning of the escape response in the house fly.
During the 1960's researchers examined techniques used to tame the house fly (Musca domestica) {add Smedley, & Smith & Jones citations here]. Recently, these efforts have taken on increased importance as the human race braces itself for the
Citation:
Chapter by Arthur Smedley in book edited by Alan Simpson called Psychophysiology. Chapter is called Physiology and behavior change. pages 25-45, 1965, New York, McGraw House.
global warming effect that is expected during the next century. Research has shown that as temperatures rise, the activity level of the fly increases [add Smedley citation here] and this, in turn, increases the human irritability index. In order to keep the irritability index at a tolerable level, a taming technique must be developed. The purpose of the present study was to examine one particular taming technique, traumatic compression.
Citations:
Research by Sturge done in 1939, described in a book by Albert Sweeney in 1960 called Backwaters of behavioral research. Maudley and Carter Publishers in London.
Adam Smith and George K. Jones, 1962, vol 37, pages 216-219 (Animalistic Behavior) Counterconditioning of the escape response in the house fly.
Chapter by Arthur Smedley in book edited by Alan Simpson called Psychophysiology. Chapter is called Physiology and behavior change. pages 25-45, 1965, New York, McGraw House.
Albert Sweeney, Backwaters of behavior research, 1960 book from London, Maudley and Carter Publishers.
Adam Smith and George K. Jones, 1962, vol 37, pages 216-219 (Animalistic Behavior) Counterconditioning of the escape response in the house fly.
Previous attempts to tame the house fly using conditioning techniques [Cite Sturge here], threats of punishment [Cite Smith & Jones here], or manipulation of early experience [Cite Smedley here] met with a consistent lack of success. Researchers [Cite Sweeney here] hypothesized that the ineffectiveness of conditioning techniques was due to the flighty behavior of the subjects. The typical hyperactive behavior of flies made it difficult to capture and maintain their attention, a condition that is necessary before conditioning can occur. Smith and Jones found that threats of punishment were ineffective because the quickness of the subjects enabled them to engage in avoidance behavior and thus the punishment was rarely administered. Manipulation of early experience has proven difficult due to the mobility of the young and the inability of researchers to identify subjects accurately [Cite Smedley article].
Citations:
Enrichment of early experience in Musca domestica by Arthur Smedley. Journal of Experimental Psychology, Vol 23, 1965, 117-128.
Chapter by Arthur Smedley in book edited by Alan Simpson called Psychophysiology. Chapter is called Physiology and behavior change. pages 25-45, 1965, New York, McGraw House.
Spock, A., 1963. Child care and survival. In the Quarterly Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 23, pages 812.
In all of these cases, the physiological nature of the fly appears to render the taming techniques ineffective. However, a technique that alters the physiological structure may prove to be effective in taming the fly. Traumatic compression is one such technique. Smedley [cite Smedley chapter] provided evidence that traumatic compression alters the physiological structure of the fly in such a way that hyperactivity and mobility are greatly reduced. In a quite different vein, Spock [insert date] found that mild traumatic compression was useful in taming immature primates. Taken together, this research suggests that traumatic compression may be an effective technique for taming the house fly.
The present study examined the effectiveness of traumatic compression as a taming procedure. The term "taming" was defined behaviorally as occurring when the subject makes no attempt to either flee or attack upon being touched by the experimenter's finger. Subjects were assigned to either the experimental group in which traumatic compression was applied or to the control condition in which sham compression was applied. Because traumatic compression alters the physiological make-up of the subjects and has a direct impact on their activity level, it was hypothesized that the traumatic compression condition would produce greater taming than the sham compression condition.
Method Section
Subjects
The subjects were 24 randomly selected flies from a population maintained in the animal room of the J.M.U. psychology laboratory. Twelve subjects were randomly assigned to each group. Two subjects in the experimental group were not measured since they could not be located after the experimental manipulation.
Apparatus
Compression was applied with a Swanson Model 28B swatter1, having a 20 gm., 100 x 150 cm. perforated polyethylene head on a flexible 14gauge twisted wire shaft. All work was carried out on a stainlesssteel counter top.
Procedure
The subjects were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the traumatic compression group or the sham compression group. Subjects were handled one at a time. All subjects were tested within a onehour period on each of the successive days. Each subject was confined within a bell jar and placed on the counter over a drop of honey. When the subject alighted on or near the honey, the jar was carefully removed. Flies in the experimental group were traumatically compressed with a sharp blow. The swatter at impact had a measured velocity of 5.13 m./sec. Flies in the control group were given sham compression by having the blow land just to the side of the subject.
An assistant, unaware of the experimental condition and the hypothesis, measured the tameness of each subject. Tameness in terms of the response to being touched with a finger was measured on a 10point scale with 10 being totally tamed. Tameness was tested immediately after compression and 24 hours later.
Results
Raw data table below is to be used to compute results--don’t include raw data in the manuscript.
Subject Number / Immediate Test / 24-hour TestTraumatic Compression Group
1
2
3 / 9 / 10
4 / 10 / 10
5 / 9 / 9
6 / 9 / 10
7 / 8 / 9
8 / 9 / 9
9 / 10 / 10
10 / 10 / 10
11 / 9 / 9
12 / 10 / 10
Sham Control Group
13 / 1 / 2
14 / 2 / 3
15 / 1 / 1
16 / 2 / 2
17 / 1 / 1
18 / 1 / 2
19 / 1 / 1
20 / 2 / 2
21 / 1 / 1
22 / 2 / 2
23 / 2 / 2
24 / 2 / 3
Use APA format and insert Table 1 as follows:
Title: Descriptive Statistics for the Immediate and 24hour Tameness of the Traumatic and Sham Compression Groups
CompressionImmediate24-hour
ConditionScoreScore
Traumatic
M[Mean][Mean]
SD[SD] [SD]
Sham Control
M[Mean}[Mean]
SD[SD] [SD]
The mean tameness score for all participants at the immediate test was [ insert mean and, within parentheses, the standard deviation] while after 24 hours the mean tameness score was [insert mean and, within parentheses, the standard deviation]. See Table 1 for the descriptive statistics for the tameness scores of each condition.
Using Excel or SPSS set up Figure 1 as follows:
Y-axis, labeled Tameness, scaled from 1 to 10.
X-axis labeled overall Time of Testing, two positions marked Immediate and 24-hour
Plot two lines, one for the traumatic condition, the other for the sham condition. Use a key or legend to identify the two conditions.
Use the following figure caption:
Mean tameness scores taken immediately after treatment and 24-hours later for traumatic and sham compression conditions.
The immediate scores and the 24hour scores are illustrated in Figure 1. The independent t-test performed on the tameness scores indicated that the traumatic compression group was significantly more tame than the sham compression group on the immediate test, t(20) = 30.575, p<.001, onetailed, and on the 24hour test, t(20) = 28.562, p<.001, onetailed. The 24hour scores were negligibly different from the immediate scores for each group. All of the sham compression subjects, but none of the traumatic compression subjects, ate and behaved normally after compression.
Discussion
The results supported the hypothesis that traumatic compression does produce greater taming than sham compression. The 24hour scores indicated that the tameness is relatively long lasting. It thus appears that traumatic compression is a suitable means of inducing tameness in the house fly. The effectiveness of this procedure is presumably due to the actual contact, since the sham group experienced the same handling and feeding as well as the same acoustic stimulation. The impaired behavior of the experimental subjects suggests that physiological processes influenced by the compression (Smedley, 1965b) are probably important in the observed tameness.
Citations:
Chapter by Arthur Smedley in book edited by Alan Simpson called Psychophysiology. Chapter is called Physiology and behavior change. pages 25-45, 1965, New York, McGraw House.
Spock, A., 1963. Child care and survival. In the Quarterly Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 23, pages 812.
The results of the present study are consistent with previous research on traumatic compression. Traumatic compression did alter the physiological structure of the subjects in a manner similar to that observed by Smedley [insert date]. Most notably, the body shape of subjects became more flattened and the wings became less rigid. In addition, the compression reduced the mobility of the subjects. Together, these changes resulted in greater tameness. The present study also extends Spock's [insert date] findings that traumatic compression (though of a relatively reduced intensity) was useful in taming immature primates and demonstrates that it is also effective with at least one other species.
In the present study only one velocity level was used to bring about compression. Future research could compare the effectiveness of several velocity levels used to induce traumatic compression and the relationship of size to velocity level. It seems reasonable that the velocity level needed for taming may be related to the overall size of the fly.
Remember to insert reference page in APA format here.
Use this author note: Requests for reprints should be addressed to Your Name, Graduate School of Education, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22807.
Insert the following footnote: 1Swanson Model 28-B swatters can be purchased from R. R. Hardware Co., Box 229, Harrisonburg, VA, 22801.
By studying these variables, the optimal level of compression may be found.