Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jaracza 1, Warsaw, 00-378, Poland.
Anim Cogn. 2024 Jul 15;27(1):48. doi: 10.1007/s10071-024-01886-2.
This study examines the effects of novel environmental changes on the behavior of rats in an experimental chamber. We hypothesized that newly discovered opportunities, detected by the animal's cognitive system, would motivate greater investigation of environmental changes than comparable changes that prevent a given behavior. Three experiments differed in the emergence vs. elimination of affordances represented by open or closed tunnels. In Experiment 1, rats were habituated to a chamber with all four tunnels closed, and then two tunnels were opened. In Experiment 2, rats were habituated to a chamber where all four tunnels were open, and then two tunnels were closed. In Experiment 3, rats were habituated to a chamber with two open tunnels on one side, and two closed tunnels on the other. Then, the arrangement of open and closed tunnels was swapped. Results of the Exp. 1 show that the rats responded by spending more time near the newly opened tunnels and less time near the closed tunnels, the central zone, and the transporter. This suggests that rats are more motivated to investigate the environmental change combined with the emergent affordance (opening of the tunnels) than the environmental change alone. In Exp. 2, the rats responded by spending more time near the open tunnels and less time in the central zone. This suggests that the rats are more triggered by the available affordances (open tunnels) than by the environmental change (closed tunnels). Finally, in Exp. 3, the rats responded by spending more time near the newly opened tunnels and less near the central zone. However, they did not spend less time near the newly closed tunnels. These results suggest that rats process both the novelty itself and the emergence/disappearance of available affordances. The results are discussed regarding the cognitive asymmetry in the perception of emergent vs. disappearing affordances. It is proposed that the rat's cognitive system is specialized for detecting newly emergent environmental opportunities/affordances rather than novelty in general.
这项研究考察了新环境变化对实验室内大鼠行为的影响。我们假设，动物认知系统检测到的新发现的机会会激发大鼠对环境变化的更大兴趣，而这种变化会阻止特定行为的发生。三个实验在代表开放或封闭隧道的可供性的出现与消除方面有所不同。在实验 1 中，大鼠习惯于一个所有四个隧道都关闭的房间，然后两个隧道被打开。在实验 2 中，大鼠习惯于一个所有四个隧道都打开的房间，然后两个隧道被关闭。在实验 3 中，大鼠习惯于一个一侧有两个开放隧道，另一侧有两个封闭隧道的房间。然后，开放和封闭隧道的布置被交换。实验 1 的结果表明，大鼠的反应是在新打开的隧道附近花费更多时间，在关闭的隧道、中央区域和运输车附近花费更少时间。这表明大鼠更有动力去探索与新出现的可供性（隧道打开）相结合的环境变化，而不仅仅是环境变化本身。在实验 2 中，大鼠的反应是在开放的隧道附近花费更多时间，在中央区域花费更少时间。这表明大鼠更容易受到可用可供性（开放隧道）的触发，而不是环境变化（封闭隧道）的触发。最后，在实验 3 中，大鼠的反应是在新打开的隧道附近花费更多时间，在中央区域附近花费更少时间。然而，它们在新关闭的隧道附近没有花费更少的时间。这些结果表明，大鼠处理新出现的环境机会/可供性本身的新奇性和出现/消失。结果与对新出现可供性和消失可供性的认知不对称进行了讨论。有人提出，大鼠的认知系统专门用于检测新出现的环境机会/可供性，而不是一般的新奇性。
