Abstract
Rats with middle ear disease and control Ss from the same population with the same history were tested for spontaneous alternation in the T maze, with and without the presence of odor trail cues. The results indicated that the middle ear group had a normal odor trail avoidance tendency but entirely lacked alternation when these cues were removed. These results support the hypothesis that spontaneous alternation is a combination of odor trail avoidance and spatial direction alternation, with the latter tendency being based on vestibular information.
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References
Dember, W. N., & Fowler, H. Spontaneous alternation behavior. Psychol. Bull., 1958, 55, 412–428.
Douglas, R. J. Spontaneous alternation cues. Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan, 1964.
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This study supported in part by a fellowship to the author from the department of Health, Education, and Welfare: MH 23,382-02.
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Douglas, R.J. Spontaneous alternation and middle ear disease. Psychon Sci 4, 243–244 (1966). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03342275
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03342275