Formation of a Simple Cognitive Map by Rats

Abstract

Ct>gnitive mapping implies the development of an internal representation of the spatial reiationships among objects in the environment, One can assess the development of a cognitive map hy demon- strating that an animal can select, when appropriate, a novel path to reach a goal in the absence of landmarks and when path integration does not provide an adequate account. Rats were trained to find reinlbrceinent in two of three goal boxes in a three-arm maze, in test, the rat.s were given a choice between two novel path.s. one that led to the goal box that had been baited during training, the other that led to the goal box that had been unbaited during training. When they were trained in the absence of distinctive intramaze cues (Experiment I), no preferenee was found; however, when distinctive intrama/e alley cues were present during training but were unavailable as directional cues during testing (Experiment 2), the rats demonstrated a significant preference for the correct novel path. These results suggest that under appropriate conditions rats are able to fonii simple cognitive maps of their environment. For