Distinction between places and paths in rats' spatial representations.

Abstract

Rats were trained on a 3-dimensional, 4-arm radial maze. In Experiment 1, Ss trained to climb to the single goal platform chose fewer novel routes to the goal than Ss trained to climb to the 4 spatially distinct platforms. In Experiment 2 a reinforcement contingency was imposed, requiring a novel route choice on each trial to receive reinforcement. Learning to associate route choice with reinforcement outcome was much more difficult for Ss tested with the single goal than for Ss tested with the 4 distinct goals. In Experiment 3 a partitioned central platform group learned the reinforcement contingency as quickly as the Ss given 4 spatially distinct platforms. In Experiment 4, distinctive floor inserts did not affect performance relative to no inserts.