Interference with spatial alternation by exposure to other mazes

Abstract

Rats were trained in a spatial alternation task in an E-shaped maze, and then were tested for retention over 60-sec delays. The subjects received an interfering alternation trial during the delay interval in one of two other mazes: either a T-maze, or a parallel (P) maze with adjacent goal arms. The T-maze produced more alternation than did the P-maze. The main findings were that (1) the T-maze trial produced interference in retention of the target maze, and (2) the P-maze produced interference in retention of the target maze only when an error had occurred in the P-maze. These results suggest that interference occurs when the distractor event itself places demands on the processing resources of the subject, and thus competes with processing of the target memory.

The Effects of Reward Omission and Change on Proactive Interference in Spatial Alternation

“…However, the reinforcers themselves may interact with the primary variables of a given study, such as spatial location or orienting strategy, to affect performance. in one study, the nonrewarded errors in one maze interfered with retention of another maze (Terry, 1989). The present results suggest that a nonrewarded response may be better remembered in some conditions.…”