We're going examining an unknown organism, the Roomba (I brought mine
in from home).
You will watch a video we've made of the Roomba's behaviors
and then you will formulate theories about what behaviors,
motivational states, and senses Roomba possesses. Having
developed
theories, you will propose research we can do on the Roomba (no
vivisection) to determine the validity of selected theories.
We will discuss your theories and research designs in lab and choose a
few to test. The TAs will execute and make video recordings
of the selected experiments and you will analyze the video tapes
to assess the validity of your theories.
If you already posses extensive knowledge of Roomba behavior, we
request that you DO NOT share this information with your peers.
While participating in this project, students in the lab should NOT
attempt to gather information about the Roomba from any source outside
of the lab. Once the project is over, of course, you can research
the Roomba to your heart's content.