The performance of the laboratory rat in the enclosed maze apparatus is profoundly influenced by subject-generated cues that seem to be olfactory. The present experiment investigated the specificity of these cues. Odor cues produced by odor-donor rats placed in the startbox were ineffective determinants of the behavior of runway-trained rats when the deprivation states of these two groups differed. However, when the deprivation states of these two groups coincided, the odor cues produced by the odor-donor rats became effective determinants of performance. Thus, it would appear that even though odor cues are influential in determining the runway performance of the rat subject, their effectiveness may well be drive-state dependent.
Two groups of 12 rats served as Ss in a three-phase investigation into the production and utilization of odor cues in the runway. Both groups were trained under double-alternation patterns of reward-nonreward with one group serving as start-box donor-odorants, while the second group actually traversed the runway. During the first two phases the run- Ss were water-reinforced, and the donor-odorants were food-reinforced. The reinforcement schedules for the run and donor-odorant Ss were positively correlated during the first phase and negatively correlated during the second phase. In the third phase both groups were food reinforced and the reinforcement schedules once again positively correlated. The results indicated that significant double-alternation patterning was shown by the run- Ss only in the goal measure during Phases I and II. However, significant patterning was shown in start, run, and goal measures during Phase III, suggesting the specificity of odor cues to deprivational states.
A three-phase experiment was conducted in which rats received a double-alternation schedule of reward and nonreward. During Phase 1, the baseline period, double-alternation behavior was displayed earlier and more strongly by subjects run last in the daily sequence. This finding suggests that both reward and nonreward odor cues are cumulative over subjects. During Phase 2, a subject-rotation procedure was initiated; that is, each day the last subject in the previous day's running sequence was moved to the first position in the sequence, etc. Rotation to the first position in the group led to an immediate disruption of responding. During Phase 3, two naive rats were inserted at the beginning of the running sequence and two at the end. The results, which showed that the naive animals placed at the end of the sequence acquired the patterning response much faster than those placed in the beginning positions, are interpreted as reflecting preparedness to respond to such intensified odors.
Double-alternation runway performance of rats is shown to be influenced by 2 sources of odor, donor-odorant Ss and previous Ss that have traversed the runway. Performance in initial segments of the apparatus depended upon odors produced by start-box confined donor Ss, while performance in the terminal segment was predominantly influenced by odors produced by previous running Ss ( ns = 14).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.