Effects of early environmental conditions on problem-solving in rats

Abstract

Theoretical predictions from the theories of Deutsch and Bull were tested in a modified Tolman-Honzik "insight" maze using one hundred rats raised in either enriched or deprived environmental conditions. Enriched environmental Ss were raised together in a large litter cage with objects present, and deprived environmental Ss were raised in individual cages. Differential theoretical predictions of the number of path 2 choices during testing were made depending upon the position of the block in path 1. Comparison of the performance of enriched and deprived environmental Ss revealed that enriched environmental Ss were more adaptive in the problem-solving task. The results suggest that variation in early environmental conditions need not be great to produce significant differences in performance in complex teaks. Predictions from Hull's theory were supported for deprived environmental Ss, and predictions from Deutsch's theory were supported for enriched environmental Ss. Superior performance of enriched environmental Ss was attributed to their ability to utilize extra maze cues in solving the problem. Duetsch's theory, though not sufficient to account for all results of the present study, appears to be a more plausible theory than Hull's for explaining problem-solving behavior in the Tolman-Honzik maze situation.