Margaret Low ’24, Jose Pena ’25, Shelby Bawden ’23, Laura Betances ’25, Tess Cody ’25, Rachael Layden ’23, and Chris Walsh ’23
Transitive Inference in Rats
Margaret Low ’24, Psychology and Health Policy and Management major
Jose Pena ’25, Neuroscience major and Physics minor
Shelby Bawden ’23, Biology and Psychology major, neuroscience certificate
Laura Betances ’25, Biology major
Tess Cody ’25, Neuroscience and English major
Rachael Layden ’23, Psychology major
Christopher Walsh ’23, Biology and Psychology major, neuroscience certificate
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Victoria Templer, Psychology
Transitive inference (TI) is a form of deductive reasoning where once stimulus pairs are learned (A>B; B>C), it can be inferred that A>C. Studies evaluating TI in rodents are limited. Ten male Long-Evans rats were trained to discriminate four overlapping stimulus (odor) pairs (A+B-; B+C-; C+D-; D+E-; list 1). After reaching criterion on adjacent stimulus pairs, rats received non-differentially reinforced probe trials of non-adjacent stimulus pairs (e.g., B, D) to determine the extent to which rats responded based on inferred order or associative value. Rats were then trained on a second list (F>G>H>I>J) using the same procedure with the exception that specific odors were consistently presented in unique spatial locations to increase premise pair acquisition. Most subjects selected B significantly more than D, and this effect was stronger in the second list, suggesting use of implied order rather than associative value. To further examine if implied order controlled choice rather than associative value, list-linking procedures (E>F) were conducted to prompt construction a ten-item list (A>B>C>D>E>F>G>H>I>J). Between list probes (e.g., BI, CH, DG) accuracy will be discussed to determine if associative value or inferred order controlled choice as linking cannot be explained by associate values.
Poster Presentation: Wednesday, April 26, 2 – 4 p.m.
