Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Dec;9(4):706-13.
doi: 10.3758/bf03196325.

Negative information: both presence and absence of spatial pattern elements guide rats' spatial choices

Elizabeth DiGello  1 , Michael F Brown, John Affuso
Affiliations

Negative information: both presence and absence of spatial pattern elements guide rats' spatial choices

Elizabeth DiGello et al. Psychon Bull Rev. 2002 Dec.

Abstract

Rats learn the spatial pattern in which hidden caches of food are located. Once the pattern is learned, finding one or more baited locations provides (positive) information about the remaining baited locations. In the present experiment, we examined whether negative information (the absence of food in a location) would also be used in locating the remaining baited locations. Rats were tested in an apparatus containing a matrix of vertical poles, on top of which food could be hidden. At the beginning of the trial, the location of the baited poles was unpredictable, but the poles were always arranged in a linear pattern. The rats learned the pattern and used both positive and negative information in locating baited poles.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Psychol Rev. 2000 Oct;107(4):659-76 - PubMed
    1. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 2001 Oct;27(4):407-16 - PubMed
    1. J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1986 Nov;12(4):445-54 - PubMed
    1. J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 1996 Oct;22(4):438-46 - PubMed