International Journal of Comparative Psychology

Hooded rats were allowed to choose between a Y-maze arm in which the floor had tactually changed, and an unchanged arm. This change was from either two rough (or smooth) arms to one smooth and one rough, or the reverse sequence, following 6- or 12-min acquisition trials. All rats were able to distinguish between the changed and the unchanged arms irrespective of the type of change. Males were less responsive to the novel arm after 12-min (possibly aversive) trials. They later emerged more slowly from a darkened chamber into a brightly lit arena, than equivalent females. For all rats, responsiveness to tactile change was positively correlated with emergence latencies. Fewer first entries of the more novel of two brightly illuminated Y-maze arms suggested disruption of responsiveness to change by an aversive experience.