Abstract
Rats are typically less accurate in their arm selections in the radial maze over successive trials in a session (Roberts & Dale, 1981). In the present study, rats’ choice accuracy declined when such trials were separated by 2-min (massed) but not by 2-h (spaced) intertriai intervals. Changing intramaze visual/tactile arm stimuli (Experiments 1 and 3) or extramaze landmark stimuli (Experiment 4) between trials weakened the massed-trials effect, but changing the number of food pellets per arm, either alone or in conjunction with changes in intramaze cues (Experiments 2 and 3), did not. The rats also tended to avoid the spatial locations of their last four choices on a previous trial during their first four choices on a current trial, and more so with massed than with spaced trials. These findings indicate that intertriai proactive interference (PI) occurred only with massed trials and was weakened by changing intra- and extramaze cues between such trials.
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The present study is based on research conducted by the second author in partial fulfillment for her B.A. Honours degree at the University of Windsor. Funds from the Research Board of the University of Windsor to the senior author supported this research. Portions of this study were presented at the meeting of the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour, and Cognitive Science, at Laval University, Quebec. June 1992. The authors thank G. Namikas at the University of Windsor for his thoughtful criticisms of the paper.
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Cohen, J.S., Reid, S. & Chew, K. Effects of varying trial distribution, intra- and extramaze cues, and amount of reward on proactive interference in the radial maze. Animal Learning & Behavior 22, 134–142 (1994). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199913
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03199913