Studies in individual differences in maze ability: IX. Ratings of hiding, avoidance, escape and vocalization responses.

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Abstract
IX. The aim of these experiments was to develop objective and reliable ratings of the complex emotional responses of rats. As the result of an extensive period of trial ratings on 120 rats a situation was standardized in which 177 [male][male] and 179 [female][female] were rated for their hiding, avoidance, escape, and vocalization responses to handling. Very good agreement between the 3 different raters was obtained. These findings prove the existence of wide, observable differences between rats in these various types of emotional responses. Although the rats showed considerable day-to-day variability in a single observation of each type of response, the reliabilities of mean ratings based on 4 observations of each type of response were of the order 0.8. The emotions of the [male] rats seemed to be differently organized from those of the [female]. In [male][male], hiding seems to be a unique response, avoidance and escape are closely similar, and vocalization and defecation seem to be mildly related to the other responses. In [female][female], hiding, avoidance, and escape seem to be determined by some common general components, yet each has some uniqueness elicited by the particular situation in which it appears, and vocalization and defecation appear to be rather highly related to the other types of responses.[long dash]X. The authors developed rating scales for the responses of a sample group of rats to apparatus features in a preliminary practice path of a maze. Rating scales were developed of the animals'' reactions to free spaces or open alleys, to doors and to curtains. In addition the escape response of the rats at the time they were introduced into the practice path was rated and a measure of starting or "tub time," and one of time spent in the practice paths were obtained. The raters" agreement on the mean rating per rat covering 7 observation trials for each type of response was nearly perfect. The rat''s consistency in each type of response, as determined from the correlation between split measures of each type of response ranged from 0.75 to 0.95, being higher for the ratings than for the time measures. The interrelations between these emotional measures, and between them and the previous measures of responses to handling, were studied. The organization of all of these emotional indices was found to be complex. In general, the responses elicited in a given situation tended to be highly related, but those in different situations were relatively independent.
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