No abstract

The hypothesis was tested that rats' initial activity in a novel situation represent$ escape tendencies rather than exploratory behaviour. 30 male albino rats were handled when 90 days old, another 30 rats remained undisturbed. All the animals got 7 trials in a light-dark prcfcrence situation. For half of the animals the lighted part contained additional stimuli. Although activity was high, rats did not investigatc these stimuli in the first trials. This result seems to favour the escape hypothesis.