Radial maze performance under food and water deprivation

The performance of food and water-deprived rats was examined on two eight-arm radial mazes. Accurate performance developed rapidly under both deprivation conditions. On an open maze, where extra-maze visual cues were readily available, water-deprived, but not food-deprived, rats tended to adopt a response strategy of choosing adjacent arms. On an enclosed maze, which reduced extra-maze visual information, both groups showed this response pattern. Tolman (1948), in presenting his "cognitive map" hypothesis to account for the performance of rats on spatial problems, suggested that under some conditions animals will utilize narrow strip maps rather than broad comprehensive maps. The variables establishing these conditions include amount of training, the availability of environmental cues, and degree of deprivation. The findings reported here are examined in terms of Tolman's cognitive map approach to spatial representation.