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The effect of a stranger’s presence on the exploratory behavior of rats

1971; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 22; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3758/bf03335910

2197-9952

Gerald W. Morlock, Charles E. McCormick, Merle E. Meyer,

Social and Intergroup Psychology

A two-group randomized design was used to evaluate the exploration of a five-path elevated maze by 40 male rats in the presence of Ss’ caretaker and in the presence of a stranger. Ss explored the maze more in the presence of the caretaker than in the presence of the stranger (p <.01). Further analysis indicated that Ss avoided the paths of the maze adjacent to the stranger (p <.01), but did not approach the paths adjacent to the caretaker (p >.01). The data suggest that the caretaker effect in rats is a function of the presence of a stranger, rather than the presence of S’s caretaker, during exploration.