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  • Title: [The learning characteristics of rats under free-choice conditions].
    Author: Nikol'skaia KA, Khonicheva NM.
    Journal: Zh Vyssh Nerv Deiat Im I P Pavlova; 1999; 49(3):436-45. PubMed ID: 10420555.
    Abstract:
    The ability to organize a four-link operant food-procuring habit in a multiple alternative maze using the free-choice method was studied in albino rats. Three types of animals were observed which were different in the character of learning. The learning curve of 20% of rats had of exponential character (type I). Some animals (37%) acquired the skill through "insight" and the process of learning in these cases could be described by a logistic regression function (type II). The remaining rats (43%) refused from solving the intricate task and were able to acquire only the simplest form of a response, i.e., running to feeders. It is suggested that learning differences between the I and II types of animals may be associated with different strategies of problem solving: "procedural" (algorithmic) and "conceptual" (semantic).
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