Title |
Rats are sensitive to ambiguity
|
---|---|
Published in |
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, October 2011
|
DOI | 10.3758/s13423-011-0171-0 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Cynthia D. Fast, Aaron P. Blaisdell |
Abstract |
In the present study, we investigated response decisions made under conditions of incomplete information in rats. In Experiment 1, rats were trained on either a positive patterning (PP; A-, B-, AB+) or a negative patterning (NP; A+, B+, AB-) instrumental lever-press discrimination. Subjects that had learned an NP discrimination responded less to Cue A when Cue B was covered at test. The cover did not, however, affect test responses to Cue A in the PP condition. In Experiment 2, rats received concurrent training on both PP and NP discriminations. After concurrent training, responses to Cue A were different with B covered versus uncovered for both NP and PP discriminations. We discuss possible accounts for why exposure to a nonlinearly soluble discrimination (NP) may have affected sensitivity to cue ambiguity produced by the cover. These results have interesting implications for representational processes engaged in problem solving. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 34 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Bachelor | 8 | 24% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 7 | 21% |
Other | 4 | 12% |
Researcher | 3 | 9% |
Professor | 2 | 6% |
Other | 8 | 24% |
Unknown | 2 | 6% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 12 | 35% |
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 7 | 21% |
Neuroscience | 3 | 9% |
Computer Science | 2 | 6% |
Linguistics | 1 | 3% |
Other | 6 | 18% |
Unknown | 3 | 9% |