Continuous Measuring of Temporal and Spatial Changes in Rats’ Behavior under Water Temporal Schedules

A study was conducted to evaluate the spatial dimensions of behavior with five different continuous measures in time and space. Four experimentally naïve, male Wistar rats were exposed to two concurrent fixed time schedules of water delivered in two dispensers located at opposite walls. In five different phases, the schedules delivered complementary frequencies of water while the overall number of deliveries remained constant. A molar analyses of behavior involving directionality, vigor, variation, preference, and persistence of behavior was conducted. The behavior of rats in the five measures changed according on the number of dispensers providing water and their timing. The different measures showed to be relatively independent from each other, in particular, vigor and persistence where not as sensitive to the parametric manipulations as directionality, variation, and preference. Results suggest that molar measures depict moment-to-moment changes in behavioral dimensions usually not considered.

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