title: Effects of spatial food distribution on search behavior in rats (Rattus norvegicus).
abstract: To analyze how search strategies are adapted according to the geometric distribution of food sources, the authors submitted rats to a search task in which they had to explore 9 food trays in an open field and avoid visiting already-depleted trays. Trays were spatially arranged in 4 independent configurations: a cross, a 3 x 3 matrix, 3 clusters of 3 trays each, and a random configuration. Rats exhibited differential search efficiency as a specific effect of the susceptibility of the configurations to being explored in a principled way: crosses were first, matrices or clusters were in the middle, and random configurations were last. Although no exhaustive searches or highly principled patterns were observed in any of the configurations, performances improved as the sessions went by. Thus, structural affordances of the environment influence the construction not only of search strategies but also of information linked to where the reward is.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Foti
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Spirito
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Mandolesi
authors: Marco
authors: M
authors: Aversano
authors: Laura
authors: L
authors: Petrosini
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D013028:Space Perception