"Rats were placed in a large box, and their movements against a floor grid were recorded during a 6-min. period." When first put into the box "the rats exhibited a heightened level of activity followed by a subsequent intrasession decline . . ‥ Provision of an avenue of escape into a small, darkened box resulted in the animal's retreat as soon as the open doorway was encountered, regardless of the time during the session when it became available. If illumination of the test box was drastically reduced, the rats tended to re-enter the test box." Food- and water-satiated rats (as well as deprived) showed this initial activity; and, even if available, food and water were not ingested the 1st minute. Rats in a familiar environment did not delay eating. "The validity of the concept of exploration, in the sense of curiosity, cannot be established a priori, but must be tested in each case." (16 ref.) From Psyc Abstracts 36:01:1EF06W. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)