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Spontaneous alternation behavior in animals: A review

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An Erratum to this article was published on 01 June 1987

Abstract

Factors affecting spontaneous alternation behavior (SAB) in animals, for example, age, gender and species studied; type of apparatus and cues employed; and neuro-anatomical, neuro-chemical and motivational status of the organism, were reviewed. Despite a myriad of experiments showing interesting main effects of such variables, little research has been performed assessing the interactive affects of these factors on alternation behavior. For example, psychologists test rats in central nervous system (CNS) lesion studies, whereas psychopharmacologists tend to assess SAB in mice. Most importantly, studies have not been reported investigating the possible interactions among species, brain lesions and drugs. This is an unfortunate omission since several important alternation models include propositions relating to cholinergic and/or serotonergic coding in the hippocampus. Examination of behavioral studies revealed the primary cue for alternation among invertebrates to be body turn, whereas vertebrates rely primarily on directional and odor cues. Reference to the seeking of stimulus change remains the most compelling motivational account of why animals manifest this ubiquitious and reliable behavior pattern.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Wake Forest University, Reynolda Station, P.O. Box 7778, 27109, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

    Charles L. Richman

  2. University of Cincinnati, USA

    William N. Dember

  3. Brown University, USA

    Paul Kim

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  1. Charles L. Richman
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  2. William N. Dember
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  3. Paul Kim
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Additional information

This review and the unpublished studies were supported by Research Grants MH16962, MH21288, and MH36491 from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Wake Forest University Research and Publication Fund.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02686620.

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Richman, C.L., Dember, W.N. & Kim, P. Spontaneous alternation behavior in animals: A review. Current Psychology 5, 358–391 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686603

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