CHOICE CRITERION EFFECTS IN THE RADIAL-ARM MAZE - MAZE-ARM INCLINE AND BRIGHTNESS

Male rats were tested in a radial-arm maze in which the maze-arms differed in terms of surface brightness (black vs white) and incline (flat vs inclined such that the end of the arm was elevated). Errors were more likely to black arms than to white arms and to flat arms than to inclined arms. Application of signal detection theory to the go/no-go decisions made regarding individual maze-arms indicated that these effects were due, at least in large part, to differences in the choice criterion applied to maze-arms. These results increase the range of variables that have been shown to affect choice accuracy in the radial-arm maze by influencing a choice criterion. They suggest that more caution should be applied in attributing effects on spatial performance to memory processes. © 1993 Academic Press, Inc.