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Evidence for a shift from true place navigation to directional responding in one variant of the morris water task.

Evidence for a shift from true place navigation to directional responding in one variant of the morris water task.
Evidence for a shift from true place navigation to directional responding in one variant of the morris water task.
Previous work from our laboratory has demonstrated that rats display a preference for directional responding over place navigation in a wide range of procedural variants of the Morris water task. A preference for place navigation has only been observed when the pool is reduced as a cue by filling it with water.

Studies using dry-land mazes suggest that rats place navigate early in training and later switch to other forms of responding (e.g., motor). The present study evaluated whether rats switch from place navigation to directional responding in the “full pool” variant of the water task. Rats were given 12, 24, or 36 hidden platform training trials.

Probe trials with the pool repositioned in the room revealed a preference for place navigation in rats given 12 trials, an equal division of response preferences in rats given 24 trials, and a preference for directional responding in rats given 36 trials. These results indicate that the early preference for place navigation in the full pool water task is transient and yields to a preference for directional responding with continued training.
spatial learning, place navigation, cognitive mapping, hippocampus, water maze
0097-7403
271-278
Hamilton, Derek A.
c65e51ba-fca7-4daa-abfe-ce3a4370fc29
Akers, Katherine G.
0a0bd8fb-f533-42f3-acbf-515178d4d754
Johnson, Travis E.
77ef8719-eb9c-43ae-94e7-c073e5ffa1db
Rice, James P.
ec4cd6fc-f8fe-4b15-9eb2-165b407a8d07
Candelaria, Felicha T.
5375ebda-6026-493b-9452-8818f5f5f593
Redhead, Edward S.
d2342759-2c77-45ef-ac0f-9f70aa5db0df
Hamilton, Derek A.
c65e51ba-fca7-4daa-abfe-ce3a4370fc29
Akers, Katherine G.
0a0bd8fb-f533-42f3-acbf-515178d4d754
Johnson, Travis E.
77ef8719-eb9c-43ae-94e7-c073e5ffa1db
Rice, James P.
ec4cd6fc-f8fe-4b15-9eb2-165b407a8d07
Candelaria, Felicha T.
5375ebda-6026-493b-9452-8818f5f5f593
Redhead, Edward S.
d2342759-2c77-45ef-ac0f-9f70aa5db0df

Hamilton, Derek A., Akers, Katherine G., Johnson, Travis E., Rice, James P., Candelaria, Felicha T. and Redhead, Edward S. (2009) Evidence for a shift from true place navigation to directional responding in one variant of the morris water task. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behaviour Processes, 35 (2), 271-278. (doi:10.1037/a0013260).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Previous work from our laboratory has demonstrated that rats display a preference for directional responding over place navigation in a wide range of procedural variants of the Morris water task. A preference for place navigation has only been observed when the pool is reduced as a cue by filling it with water.

Studies using dry-land mazes suggest that rats place navigate early in training and later switch to other forms of responding (e.g., motor). The present study evaluated whether rats switch from place navigation to directional responding in the “full pool” variant of the water task. Rats were given 12, 24, or 36 hidden platform training trials.

Probe trials with the pool repositioned in the room revealed a preference for place navigation in rats given 12 trials, an equal division of response preferences in rats given 24 trials, and a preference for directional responding in rats given 36 trials. These results indicate that the early preference for place navigation in the full pool water task is transient and yields to a preference for directional responding with continued training.

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Published date: 1 May 2009
Keywords: spatial learning, place navigation, cognitive mapping, hippocampus, water maze
Organisations: Psychology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 73240
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/73240
ISSN: 0097-7403
PURE UUID: bd46d657-7005-4d9f-8f88-921258b3c79f
ORCID for Edward S. Redhead: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7771-1228

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Date deposited: 03 Mar 2010
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:44

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Contributors

Author: Derek A. Hamilton
Author: Katherine G. Akers
Author: Travis E. Johnson
Author: James P. Rice
Author: Felicha T. Candelaria

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