Further data on conflict behaviour in golden hamsters: shifting between alternative sets of directional information

Golden hamsters were trained to collect food in two differently patterned test boxes, linked to each other and to the nest by a T-shaped tube. To choose the correct goal direction from each box entrance the subjects could use either locomotor or visual cues. In test trials the central arm of the T-tube and the nest were rotated by 180°, setting visual and locomotor information in conflict. For one group of subjects, only the boxes were illuminated, whereas for a second group a general visual background was added. Locomotor information prevailed over visual for the majority of group 1 subjects. The second group gave the same weight to locomotor and visual cues in choosing the initial direction, but again depended more on locomotor cues for their final orientation. In a complementary test using the group 1 subjects, the hamsters entered the test box directly (without passing through the T-tube) and were therefore deprived of learned locomotor cues. Most animals chose the visually correct goal, showing that they had also associated the food locations with the visual cues. The experimental set-up favoured conflict resolution by shifting between locomotor and visual cues rather than by choosing compromise directions. This suggests that both kinds of information were processed simultaneously but could be used successively throughout each hoarding excursion.