The perception of spatial relations by the rat: A type of response not easily explained by conditioning.

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Eleven exps. were conducted to determine the factors operating in the choice behavior of rats which had previously been shocked in a food box to which they had been trained to respond. Long and short paths to food branched away from a common entrance pathway. The rats were trained to choose the short path but were acquainted with the long one by means of forced runs. When thoroughly trained to choose the short path the rat was shocked in the food box to which he had previously gone and again tested on the apparatus. By use of screens, white and black paint, opaque covers on food boxes, variations in the location of the food box at the time of shock, etc. several factors were tested. Diminishing the visual cues reduced the % of rats choosing the long path after shock. All exps. substantiated the finding that the visual perception of the apparatus and the room was the essential cue utilized by the rat. To explain, by the conditioning principle, the behavior of the rat choosing the long path after shock, requires the postulation of purely hypothetical factors. The authors prefer to attribute the successful responses to the ability of the rat to perceive spatial relations and to act accordingly.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: