Beacon training in a water maze can facilitate and compete with subsequent room cue learning in rats.
In Stage 1 of 4 experiments in which rats completed a water-maze blocking procedure, experimental groups were trained to use a predictive beacon (hanging above, connected to, or displaced from the platform) to find a submerged escape platform in the presence of predictive or irrelevant background cues and in the presence or absence of irrelevant landmarks. In Stage 2, a fixed beacon, landmarks, and background cues all predicted the platform location. A Room Test (landmarks and background cues only) showed that Stage 1 training with a fixed hanging beacon or the moving displaced beacon facilitated Stage 2 learning of predictive room cues for experimental relative to control subjects. In contrast, Stage 1 training with a moving pole beacon interfered with Stage 2 learning about predictive room cues relative to controls, whereas training with a fixed pole or moving hanging beacon had no effect. We conclude that multiple spatial learning processes influence locating an escape platform in the water maze.
Timberlake
William
W
Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. timberla@indiana.edu
Sinning
Susan A
SA
Leffel
Joseph K
JK
D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D002755:Choice Behavior; D003463:Cues; D004924:Escape Reaction; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning; D011939:Mental Recall; D009949:Orientation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011930:Reaction Time; D013550:Swimming