Effects of food deprivation on exploration in deprivationally naive rats

Abstract
Deprivationally naive rats were food deprived for 2, 24 or 48 hrs. prior to observation in an exploration box consisting of novel and familiar halves. Deprivation was found to increase preferences for being in the novel half but decrease the frequency of walking responses. Licking a water tube increased with 4 hr. deprivation and then decreased with 48 hr. Female rats reared more frequently but licked a water tube less often than males. The results tended to support the view that food deprivation heightens reactivity to novelty. They also emphasised the inappropriateness of measures of locomotion alone for assessing strength of exploration.

This publication has 22 references indexed in Scilit: