Simultaneous numerical discriminations by rats

Abstract

Four rats were trained to perform two numerical discriminations during the same experimental session. As in a previous study (Davis & Bradford, in press), one of these tasks required the animal to enter a target tunnel solely on the basis of its ordinal position in an array of six tunnels. Of primary interest here is the fact that the subjects were simultaneously required to keep track of the cumulative number of trials during the session: After their first and second tunnel entries, subjects returned to the start box. After their third tunnel entry, subjects climbed onto a wood block in order to exit the enclosure and return to their home cages. These data constitute the first evidence that rats are capable of performing two simultaneous numerical discriminations. © 1987, The psychonomic soceity, inc. All rights reserved.