Cockroach Preference Test

This experiment can be used to determine whether or not a cockroach has a preference when given two options. It is currently designed to test between Frootloops and cricket diet. However, this experiment can be adjusted to test any two items, including various edible items, colors, smells, shelters, etc. This experiment can be used to test the preference of a single cockroach or test whether species-wide preferences exist using several cockroaches.

Cockroach Preference Testing Protocol (DOC) →

Olfactory Conditioning in Cockroaches

This experiment is designed to test whether cockroaches can be conditioned using olfactory cues. We used vanilla and lavender essential oils, but this could be modified to test any scents that you have available. You will first assess the scent preferences of the roaches in a preference test, then reward them for choosing the scent that is not preferred and finally see if they retain their acquired scent preference when no rewards are present. This experiment is more extensive than our others, so we consider this an advanced experiment. However, you could shorten the memory delay intervals to scale down the difficulty of this task.

Olfactory Discrimination Protocol (DOC) →

Cockroach Olfactory + Visual Discrimination Training Data Sheet (PDF)→

Cockroach Probability-Learning Test

This experiment is used to determine whether cockroaches are capable of probability matching, which entails that their choice-ratio would eventually match their reward-ratio.

Probability Learning Protocol (DOC) →