Further evidence that rats rely on local rather than global spatial information to locate a hidden goal: reply to Cheng and Gallistel (2005).
Naive male Hooded Lister rats (Rattus norvegicus) were required to find a submerged platform in a right-angled corner between a long and a short wall of a pool in the shape of an irregular pentagon. Tests in a rectangular pool revealed a preference for the corners that corresponded with the correct corner in the pentagon. These findings indicate that rats identified the correct corner in the pentagon by local cues. They contradict the suggestion that rats navigate by moving in a particular direction relative to the principal axis of the shape of their environment.
McGregor
Anthony
A
School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom. mcgregora@cardiff.ac.uk
Jones
Peter M
PM
Good
Mark A
MA
Pearce
John M
JM
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003463:Cues; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology; D004777:Environment; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006040:Goals; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013037:Spatial Behavior