An electronic open field.
An electronic open field made with inexpensive, off-the-shelf materials is described. Its automatic operation frees the researcher from tedious and time consuming direct observations in experiments measuring exploratory behavior, goal preference, etc. Its numeric output can be read from the display or interfaced to printers, recorders, computers, etc. As an example of its operation, experimental results measuring sexual motivation (proceptivity) of female rats are reported.
D000818:Animals; D005010:Ethology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D011603:Psychophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal