Abstract
Social memory was investigated in the context of a spatial working memory task. Pairs of rats were tested in an eight-arm radial maze. Under most conditions, there was a tendency to choose maze locations that had been visited earlier by the other rat. The possibility that this tendency is produced by common preferences for particular maze locations was ruled out. An opposite tendency to avoid visits to locations that had been visited earlier during the trial by another rat was found only when the maze location contained two pellets (rather than an undepletable supply), the rats’ ability to see each other in the maze was restricted to the central arena, and the maze location had been previously visited by the focal rat. The amount of food available in maze locations did not otherwise modulate social influences on spatial choice. The results indicate that memory for a rat’s own previous choices is combined with memory for the choices made by another rat.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Brown, M. F., Farley, R. F., & Lorek, E. J. (2007). Remembrance of places you passed: Social spatial working memory in rats. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 33, 213–224. doi:10.1037/0097-7403.33.3.213
Brown, M. F., Knight-Green, M. B., Lorek, E. J., Packard, C., Shallcross, W., Wifall, T., et al. (2008). Social working memory: Memory for another rat’s choices can increase or decrease choice tendencies. Learning & Behavior, 36, 327–340. doi:10.3758/LB.36.4.327
Galef, B. G., Jr., & Giraldeau, L. A. (2001). Social influences on foraging in vertebrates: Causal mechanisms and adaptive functions. Animal Behaviour, 61, 3–15. doi:10.1006/anbe.2000.1557
Galef, B. G., Jr., & Laland, K. N. (2005). Social learning in animals: Empirical studies and theoretical models. BioScience, 55, 489–499.
Galef, B. G., Jr., & Whiskin, E. E. (1999). Use of public information when foraging: Effects of time available to sample foods. Animal Cognition, 2, 103–107. doi:10.1007/s100710050030
Galef, B. G., Jr., & Wigmore, S. W. (1983). Transfer of information concerning distant foods: A laboratory investigation of the “information-centre” hypothesis. Animal Behaviour, 31, 748–758.
Kendal, R. L., Coolen, I., & Laland, K. N. (2004). The role of conformity in foraging when personal and social information conflict. Behavioral Ecology, 15, 269–277. doi:10.1093/beheco/arh008
Olton, D. S. (1978). Characteristics of spatial memory. In S. H. Hulse, H. Fowler, & W. K. Honig (Eds.), Cognitive processes in animal behavior (pp. 341–374). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Olton, D. S., & Samuelson, R. J. (1976). Remembrance of places passed: Spatial memory in rats. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 2, 97–116.
Zentall, T. R., & Galef, B. G., Jr. (eds.) (1988). Social learning: Psychological and biological perspectives. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Experiment 1 was the basis of an M.S. thesis submitted to Villanova University by T.-M.N.P., who is currently at the University of Pennsylvania. K.E.D. is currently at Kent State University.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brown, M.F., Prince, TM.N. & Doyle, K.E. Social effects on spatial choice in the radial arm maze. Learning & Behavior 37, 269–280 (2009). https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.37.3.269
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/LB.37.3.269