Reactions to Novelty following Differential Postweaning Rearing and Handling

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Abstract
40 male albino rats were reared in either enriched or deprived cages, with or without daily handling, for 10 wk. prior to observation in a 4-cell exploration box. Significant interactions between cage environment and handling suggested that handling increased preferences for the novel half of the apparatus and frequencies of sniffing the floor, walls, and ceiling of both halves in rats reared in deprived cages, but decreased both these measures of exploration in rats reared in enriched cages. Deprived rats also weighed more than enriched rats. It was concluded that the exploration results could be accounted for by an inverted-U relationship between total amount of postweaning stimulation and frequency of exploratory behavior if one assumed that handling and the cage environment had summated in effect.