Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Splinter, by his students often called Master Splinter, is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. In both the original comics and the live-action movies, Splinter is the pet rat of a ninja named Hamato Yoshi in Japan. Intelligent for his species, Splinter is able to learn ninjutsu art by mimicking his master's movements while he practiced. Yoshi becomes embroiled in a dispute with a fellow ninja by the name of Oroku Nagi, and is eventually murdered by Nagi's brother, Oroku Saki, who is seeking revenge for his
Guided rat species." Researchers tend to liken the training mechanism of the robo-rat to standard operant conditioning techniques. Talwar himself has acknowledged the ethical issues apparent in the development of the robo-rat, but points out that the research meets standards for animal treatment laid down by the National Institute of Health. Moreover, the researchers emphasize that the animals are trained, not coerced, into particular behaviors. Because the rats are encouraged to act via the reward of pleasure, not muscularly compelled to behave in a particular manner, their behavior under MFB stimulation is likened to a carrot-and-stick model of encouraged behavior versus a