Effects of Intertrial Confinement and Brightness Change on Ferret Alternation Behavior

Abstract

10 ferrets alternated more often in a Y-maze following 2-min. confinement to the chosen arm and following a brightness change in the arm not chosen on Trial 1. A brightness change in the same arm chosen on Trial 1 produced significant repetition. Similarities in behavior of rats and ferrets were interpreted as emphasising the general importance of novelty in exploration.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Dember

W. N.

Fowler

Spontaneous alternation behavior. Psychol. Bull., 1958, 55, 412–428.

Glanzer

The role of stimulus satiation in spontaneous alternation. J. exp. Psychol., 1953, 45, 387–393.

Hughes

R. N.

Responses by the ferret to stimulus change. Brit. J. Psychol., 1964, 55, 463–468.

Hughes

R. N.

Spontaneous alternation and response to stimulus change in the ferret. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1965, 60, 149–150.

O'Connell

R. H.

Comparison of alternation and response to stimulus change. J. comp. physiol. Psychol., 1964, 57, 362–366.