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Imagine that! Cue-evoked representations guide rat behavior during ambiguous situations.
Cynthia D Fast1, Traci Biedermann2, Aaron P Blaisdell2
1Department of Psychology, Rutgers University.
Journal of Experimental Psychology. Animal Learning and Cognition
|February 17, 2016
Summary
Rats use mental representations to guide behavior in ambiguous situations, not just associative learning. These findings support the role of retrieved representations in rat decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Mental imagery allows experiencing absent events.
- Previous research suggests rats use retrieved event representations to guide behavior in ambiguous situations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test contrasting predictions regarding rat behavior in ambiguous situations.
- To differentiate between representational and nonrepresentational associative accounts of behavior.
Main Methods:
- Rats were trained on a discrimination task involving two lights.
- Testing involved ambiguous (covered) and explicit (unlit) absence of one light.
- A conditioned inhibition procedure was used in Experiment 2.
Main Results:
- Generalization decrement was attenuated when the absent cue was covered.
- Rat behavior in cue ambiguity was driven by associatively retrieved representations.
- Results argue against purely nonrepresentational associative accounts.
Conclusions:
- Supports a role for associatively retrieved representations in rat behavior.
- Suggests mental imagery or representational processes guide decision-making in rats.
