Stimulus change and complexity in exploratory behavior

Taylor, George T.

doi:10.3758/bf03199134

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Though every group reached asymptote at more than 90% preference for the target animal, the stressed animals reached that asymptote faster. Rats learn a T-maze discrimination faster when the reward is large than when it is smaller, though the performance under both reward conditions ultimately reach asymptote at similar levels (Hill & Spear, 1963;Taylor, 1974). Given the results of Experiments 1 and 2, a reasonable suggestion is that part of the attraction provided by the target males in Experiment 3 was their capacity to reduce the aversiveness of an emotional stimulus.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Apparatus, A Plexiglas T-maze with 1 29-m runway and .51-m arms was the primary apparatus (Taylor, 1974) One of the arms was painted white, the other was painted black, and the stem was gray The floor of the maze consisted of stainless steel tubing, .63 cm in diameter The start box and the goal boxes each measured 22 X 12 X 16 5 cm. Five opaque doors, each 12 x 16.5 cm, were raised and lowered manually The doors were located after the start box, at the beginning of each of the arms, and immediately preceding each goal area An opaque observation cage, 47 X 25 X 20 cm, was used to establish the relative aggressiveness of the ratt> The 2 5-cm hardware-cloth top allowed the experimenter to view the interacting animals Finally, a regular operant box, 22 X 23 X 22 cm, was used to expose some rats to the same white noise employed in Experiment 1 The operant box was housed in a soundproof cubicle.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fear and affiliation in domesticated male rats.

Taylor¹

1981

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology

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Male rats actively seek the opportunity to interact with other male rats. Three experiments examined the hypothesis that the presence of conspecifics can reduce the behavioral signs of fear in rats and that this capacity provides part of the attraction to conspecifics. In Experiment 1, the immobility response of male rats was measured following exposure to a stressful noise. The animals that were observed in groups exhibited shorter durations of immobility than the animals that were observed alone. The "group" effect was sufficiently powerful to nullify different housing conditions and different degrees of familiarity among the males. The second experiment compared social and nonsocial stimuli and found that only the former stimuli effectively reduced the immobility response. In Experiment 3, stressed rats were more likely to choose to interact with a conspecific in a T-maze than were nonstressed rats. Again, rearing conditions made little difference; both the individually and group housed males were highly attracted to a conspecific.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear and affiliation in domesticated male rats.

Taylor¹

1981

Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology

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“…In other words, when general activity is high, shelter seeking is subordinated in the short run by a tendency to seek environments (or stimulus levels) moderately discrepant from the currently occupied (and presumably adapted) environment. In a relatively chronic short-term (discrete trial) testing situation, Taylor (1974) reports that both incremental and decremental shifts from a well-adapted midcomplexity stimulus constitute effective incentives for approach, although the incremental shift is more effective.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The rat’s long-term preference for complexity in its environment

Denny

1975

Animal Learning & Behavior

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Locomotor, resting, and feeding responses to four levels of environmental complexity were measured in a two-phase study. In a long-term free-choice testing situation (ad-lib phase), subjects (N'" 20) demonstrated a marked preference for high complexity during "day" conditions. This preference, present in the patterns of resting and locomotor behavior, was partially preserved under "night" conditions. The patterns of feeding behavior were essentially independent of complexity preference. The same subjects in the discrete trial phase of the study chose high complexity most often in a four-choice testing situation. The apparent preference for high environmental complexity was interpreted as a shelter/relaxation seeking response elicited by the number or complexity of elements in the complexity area. Complexity seemed to reduce the arousal level of the subject, arguing against current arousal hypotheses which suggest that complex stimuli are attractive because of their arousal-inducing qualities.

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“…A wooden T -maze (see Taylor, 1974) with 1.29-m runway and .57 -m arms, one of which was painted white and the other black, was used. The startbox measured 24 x 11.6 x 16.8 em and the goalbox was 25 x 11.6 x 16.8 cm.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Affiliation and aggression in rats

Taylor

1976

Animal Learning & Behavior

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The relationship between affiliation and aggression was examined in two experiments. In the first study, each of 12 male albino rats was allowed to choose in a T-maze between tw:o alternatives. One alternative housed a more aggressive target male and the other housed a less aggressIve target male. The subjects preferred the less aggressive target animal. A second investigation allowed each of 36 male albino rats to choose between a target animal and an empty compartment. The results were that all the subjects preferred to affiliate with the target animal. However, as the level of aggressiveness by the target animal increased, the level of greg~riousness decreased. The data suggest that an important determinant of affiliation is the behavior, and specifically the aggressiveness, of the target animal.

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Stimulus change and complexity in exploratory behavior

Cited by 14 publications

References 11 publications

Fear and affiliation in domesticated male rats.

Fear and affiliation in domesticated male rats.

The rat’s long-term preference for complexity in its environment

Affiliation and aggression in rats

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