The moving fire hydrant experiment: movement of objects to a new location reelicits marking in rats

Three experiments were carried out to investigate the influence of object relocation on object marking in an open field by hooded and albino rats. Object marking was reelicited when an object was moved to a new location in the second half of an open field test. Control conditions revealed that an object briefly moved and returned to the original location elicited no more marking than a stationary object. The higher level of marking of the relocated object suggests that object marking may provide an index of spatial knowledge. The implication of spatial knowledge in controlling marking behavior is congruent with observations that rats with hippocampal damage show increased marking.