The Effect of Electric Shock on Rats' Choice between Familiar and Unfamiliar Maze Arms: A Replication

Abstract

It is argued that experiments showing that noise and electric shock produce gross changes in rats' locomotor activity are only weak evidence for a relationship between fear and exploration. Stronger evidence comes from an experiment in which fewer shocked than unshocked rats chose the unfamiliar arm of a maze. Certain details of this experiment are unclear, and an attempt is made here to confirm its findings. In one experiment, shocked rats again chose the unfamiliar arm less often than unshocked rats, and in a second experiment it was shown that this finding cannot be explained by saying that shocked rats choose at random. These results are discussed in relation to recent suggestions about exploration in rats.