Simultaneous Measure of General Activity and Exploratory Behavior

Abstract

Housemice of five strains were tested repeatedly in a runway apparatus so arranged that both dimensions of gross activity could be measured. Exploratory performances showed the expected decline both within and among days of testing. On the other hand, general activity did not decrease among days. Moreover, the magnitude of correlation between the two behaviors was minimal except for one strain. These data are construed as definitive in establishing the separateness of the two categories of gross activity: general activity and exploratory behavior. Moreover, these data indicate that maze learning drug response differences reported for these strains cannot be explained by differences in activity variables.