Generalization in place learning and geometry knowledge in rats.
Rats were trained to search for a food reward hidden under sawdust in the center of a square-shaped enclosure designed to force orientation on the basis of the overall geometry of the environment. They were then tested in a number of enclosures differing in shape and in size (rectangular-, double-side square-, and equilateral triangle-shaped enclosures). Results showed that rats transferred their place-finding ability to the novel enclosures. Our results add evidence to the hypothesis that the evolutionary roots of spatial cognition entail a primitive encoding of geometric relationships, as already shown using other tasks in rats.
Tommasi
Luca
L
Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, A-3422 Altenberg, Austria. luca.tommasi@kli.ac.at
Thinus-Blanc
Catherine
C
D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001245:Association Learning; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans; D013028:Space Perception; D013037:Spatial Behavior; D014163:Transfer, Psychology