Dymond, S., Gomez-Martin, S., & Barnes, D. (1996). Multi-modal conditional discrimination in rats: Some preliminary findings. Irish Journal of Psychology, 17(3), 269-281.
The authors used a new methodology to train two 7-wk old male albino Wistar rats on a conditional discrimination task that used multi-modal stimuli which differed along a number of sensory dimensions i.e., visual, tactile and olfactory. Rats were trained across 2 stages to move from a multi-modal sample to a multi-modal comparison for food reward. A 90% criterion in each stage was required. Having reached the criterion in the 2nd stage of training, Ss were then exposed to blocks of trials where symmetry probe test trials were interspersed with reinforced and nonreinforced baseline trials. Preliminary results showed that rats acquired, in 2 stages, a multi-modal arbitrary conditional discrimination. The advantages of the methodology for facilitating multi-modal conditional discrimination responding in rats are discussed. The procedures and findings of the present study suggest significant avenues for future research.