Rats given daily exploratory trials in a simple enclosed maze showed a decline in activity from day to day, while animals exploring an elevated maze showed no decline between days. In a further experiment exploration of either an elevated or an enclosed maze was found to cease after about 15 min. The implications of these findings are discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BerlyneD. E. (1950). Novelty and curiosity as determinants of exploratory behaviour. Brit. J. Psychol.41, 68–80.
2.
BerlyneD. E. (1955). The arousal and satiation of perceptual curiosity in the rat. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.48, 238–46.
3.
BroadhurstP. L. (1957). Determinants of emotionality in the rat. I. Situational factors. Brit. J. Psychol.48, 1–12.
4.
CarrR. M.WilliamsC. D. (1957). Exploratory behaviour of three strains of rats. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.50, 621–3.
5.
EhrlichA. (1959). Effects of past experience on exploratory behaviour in rats. Canad. J. Psychol.13, 248–54.
6.
GlanzerM. (1953). Stimulus satiation: an explanation of spontaneous alternation and related phenomena. Psychol. Rev.60, 257–68.
7.
HurwitzH. M. B. (1957). Periodicity of response in operant extinction. Quart. J. exp. Psychol.9, 177–84.
8.
MontgomeryK. C. (1951). The relation between exploratory behaviour and spontaneous alternation in the white rat. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.44, 582–9.
9.
MontgomeryK. C. (1952). Exploratory behaviour and its relation to spontaneous alternation in a series of maze exposures. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.45, 50–7.
10.
MontgomeryK. C. (1953a). Exploratory behaviour as a function of “Similarity” of stimulus situatons. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.46, 129–33.
11.
MontgomeryK. C. (1953b). The effect of activity deprivation on exploratory behaviour. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.46, 438–41.
12.
MontgomeryK. C. (1953c). The effect of the hunger and thirst drives upon exploratory behaviour. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.46, 315–9.
13.
MontgomeryK. C. (1955). The relation between fear induced by novel stimulation and exploratory behaviour. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.48, 254–60.
14.
MontgomeryK. C.MonkmanJ. A. (1955). The relation between fear and exploratory behaviour. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.48, 132–6.
15.
SteinbergH.RushtonR.TinsonC. (1961). Modifications of the effects of amphitamene-barbiturate mixture by the past experience of rats. Nature192, 533–5.
16.
WatsonR. J. (1964). Modification of the effects of drugs on behaviour by the nutritional state. Animal Behaviour and Drug ActionSteinbergH.London: Churchill.
17.
WilliamsC. D.KuchtaJ. C. (1957). Exploratory behaviour in two mazes with dissimilar alternatives. J. comp. physiol. Psychol.50, 509–13.
