title: Rats (Rattus norvegicus) in a water maze learn both an egocentric trajectory and landmarks.
abstract: In two experiments we investigated the extent to which rats (Rattus norvegicus) use an egocentric trajectory and landmarks to locate a goal. In Experiment 1 we trained groups to locate the hidden platform in a water maze with either 1 of 3 or 3 of 3 predictive landmarks, and with either a random or fixed egocentric trajectory. A choice test revealed that regardless of the landmark configuration, rats relied on a directional, egocentric trajectory, when it was available, to locate the platform. In Experiment 2 we found that adding four predictive landmarks following training with a constant egocentric trajectory did not alter rats' initial attention to the trajectory. We conclude that the presence of nonpredictive landmarks in a predictive array did not affect the use of landmarks. With a blocking design, rats used initially an egocentric path, then landmarks. These results add to the notion that animals use available spatial cues sequentially.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Indiana University, 1101 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA. ctamara@indiana.edu
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tamara
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Timberlake
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Leffel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001245:Association Learning; D001288:Attention; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006040:Goals; D018782:Maze Learning; D011939:Mental Recall; D009043:Motor Activity; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley / Q000523:psychology*; D013037:Spatial Behavior