Reward Probability and the Variability of Foraging Behavior in Rats

منو

" Reward Probability and the Variability of Foraging Behavior in Rats "
Stahlman, W. David; Blaisdell, Aaron P.

Document Type	:	AL
Record Number	:	936244
Doc. No	:	LA2182x9bc
Language of Document	:	English
Main Entry	:	Stahlman, W. David; Blaisdell, Aaron P.
Title & Author	:	Reward Probability and the Variability of Foraging Behavior in Rats [Article]\ Stahlman, W. David; Blaisdell, Aaron P.
Title of Periodical	:	International Journal of Comparative Psychology
Volume/ Issue Number	:	24/2
Date	:	2011
Abstract	:	The connection between reduced reinforcement probability and increased behavioral variability hasbeen well established in recent years (Gharib, Gade, & Roberts, 2004; Stahlman, Roberts, & Blaisdell, 2010). Researchers have hypothesized that this relationship is an adaptive one - it is beneficial for animals to increase behavioral variability in response to low likelihood of success,because this increase in variability potentially allows them to discover new behavioral options that are more highly rewarded. We conducted a study to investigate the relationship between behavioral variability and reward probability in an ecologically valid experimental task. We trained rats tosearch for hidden food in the presence of either of two landmarks, each that signaled a different likelihood of reward (i.e., HI and LO). Variation in locations searched was higher in the presence ofthe LO probability landmark. These results build on prior findings that reward expectation drives behavioral variability.