When trained to locate a hidden platform in a T-maze moved between two positions, rats appear to adopt a conditional strategy based on start point discrimination. To determine if location cues or orientation cues at the start point underlie this discrimination, separate groups of rats were trained on two place problems, each with unique start…

Evaluative conditioning (EC) refers to changes in people's evaluative responses toward initially neutral stimuli (CSs) by mere spatial and temporal contiguity with other positive or negative stimuli (USs). We investigate whether changing CS features from conditioning to evaluation also changes people's evaluative response toward these CSs. We used…

Previous work has shown that children are able to make a spatial inference about adjacent locations that have only been experienced indirectly (Hazen, Lockman, & Pick, 1978). We sought to replicate this finding in rats, on a conceptually analogous task. In a first experiment, rats (n = 8) were given 110 training trials on a task in which they…

The role of context was examined in the selection and integration of independently learned spatial relationships. Using a dynamic 3D virtual environment, participants learned one spatial relationship between landmarks A and B which was established in one virtual context (e.g., A is left of B) and a different spatial relationship which was…

Spatial pattern separation (SPS) and spatial pattern completion (SPC) have played an increasingly important role in computational and rodent literatures as processes underlying associative memory. SPS and SPC are complementary processes, allowing the formation of unique representations and the reconstruction of complete spatial environments based…

Pairs of rats foraged in trials either together or separately in an open field apparatus for pellets hidden in discreet locations in a 5 x 5 matrix. Trial duration was either 1 or 4 min. The tendency to choose locations that had earlier been visited by another rat was examined by comparing the choices made in the presence and absence of the other…

Beaconing is a process in which the distance between a visual landmark and current position is reduced in order to return to a location. In contrast, dead reckoning is a process in which vestibular, kinesthetic and/or optic flow cues are utilized to update speed of movement, elapsed time of movement, and direction of movement to return to a…

We investigated whether search accuracy of adult humans could be enhanced using differential reward contingencies in landmark-based spatial tasks conducted on a computer screen. We found that search accuracy was significantly enhanced by differential outcomes in a conditional spatial search task, in which the landmark-to-goal relationship depended…

Four- to 10-year-old children (n = 50) participated in a 2D search task that included geometry (with- and without lines) and feature conditions. During each of 27 trials, participants watched as a cartoon character hid behind one of three landmarks arranged in a triangle on a computer screen. During feature condition trials, participants could use…

Behavioral data suggest that distinguishable orientations may be necessary for place learning even when distal cues define different start points in the room and a unique goal location. We examined whether changes in orientation are also important in place learning and navigation in a water T-maze. In Experiment 1, rats were trained to locate a…

We investigated the time course of spatial-memory decay in rats using an eight-arm radial maze. It is well established that performance remains high with retention intervals as long as 4 h, but declines to chance with a 24-h retention interval (Beatty, W. W., & Shavalia, D. A. (1980b). Spatial memory in rats: time course of working memory and…

Three computer based experiments, testing human participants in a non-immersive virtual watermaze task, used a blocking design to assess whether two sets of geometric cues would compete in a manner described by associative models of learning. In stage 1, participants were required to discriminate between visually distinct platforms. In stage 2,…

This paper reports two experiments conducted to examine priority effects and sex differences in object location memory. A new task of paired position-learning was designed, based on the A-B A-C paradigm, which was used in paired word learning. There were three different paired position-learning conditions: (1) positions of several different…

Three- to six-year-old children (n=28) and adults (n=46) participated in a two-dimensional search task that included geometry and feature conditions. During each of 24 trials, participants watched as a cartoon character hid behind one of three landmarks arranged in a triangle on a computer screen. The landmarks and character then disappeared and…

Three computer-based experiments which tested human participants in a non-immersive virtual watermaze task sought to determine factors which dictate whether the presence of a visual platform disrupts locale learning and taxon learning. In Experiment 1, the visible platform disrupted locale but not taxon learning based on viewpoint-independent and…