Experiments on neophobia in wild and laboratory rats: a reevaluation

Two experiments using food-container avoidance as an index of neophobia are reported for two strains of laboratory and one strain of wild rats. In Experiment 1 rats were fed from a single familiar container until their consumption had stabilized. Upon replacing the familiar container with a novel container, the latency of all three strains to begin feeding increased. In Experiment 2 rats were offered a choice between a familiar and a novel container containing identical food. Though there was considerable individual variation among the three strains, the wild strain was more reluctant to eat from the novel container than a hooded laboratory strain, which, in turn, was nore reluctant than an albino laboratory strain. Nonetheless, all three strains showed an initial avoidance of the novel container. It was concluded that both wild and laboratory strains are neophobic and that strain differences are ones of degree, not of kind.