Comparisons of rats' choice behavior among three different radial‐maze tasks

Abstract

The present study compared rats' behavioral changes on three tasks on the radial‐arm maze. In the free‐choice task (0Fo/8Fr; no forced choice/eight free choices), rats performed efficiently with the simple response pattern of sequential adjacent‐arm choices. In the two forced‐choice tasks (3Fo/5Fr and 5Fo/3Fr), rats performed as efficiently as 0Fo/8Fr but showed no particular response patterns. The frequency of arm investigation was the highest in 5Fo/3Fr, and was higher in 3Fo/5Fr than in 0Fo/8Fr. The probability of correct rejection, avoiding re‐entry to visited arms after investigation, was also higher in 3Fo/5Fr and 5Fo/3Fr than in 0Fo/8Fr. These results suggest that the rats could adjust their behavior to the task demands.

Variation in arm‐choice strategies of rats in radial‐maze tasks

“…The unvisited-arm choice was defined as choice of the arm which had not been visited before delay. Arm investigationpoking the head out of the platform and exploring an arm entrance -is frequently observed in the radial-maze tasks (Brown & Cook, 1986;Haga, 1997;Olton & Samuelson, 1976). As Brown and Lesniak-Karpiak (1993) pointed out, this behavior ("microchoice" in their term) is an instance of visual orientation toward maze arms and can be considered as a behavioral expression of go/no-go decisions.…”