Question

A biologist wants to see if rats running in a maze use some kind of decision process on how to proceed when they come to an intersection. To do so she decides to simulate the situation by assuming the decisions are random, so she creates a "virtual rat" that at each intersection tosses a coin to decide which way to go. She lets the "virtual rat" run the maze 1000 times, and finds the average length run is 14.8 feet, with a standard deviation of 2.4 feet. She then lets a real rat run the maze, and measures the length run to be 13 feet.

Explain what conclusion the biologist can make.

Answer 1

The real rat's average run is shorter than the random model, suggesting it uses cognitive learning, likely through a cognitive map, to navigate the maze more efficiently than the "virtual rat."

Step-by-step explanation:

The biologist's experiment using a "virtual rat" provides a random decision model for running the maze, setting a baseline for what random behavior looks like in terms of average length run (14.8 feet) and standard deviation (2.4 feet). When a real rat runs the maze and only achieves an average length of 13 feet, it is below the average achieved by the random decision process of the "virtual rat."

This suggests that the real rat's behavior is not random. Given what has been learned from past experiments, such as those conducted by H.C. Blodgett in the 1920s on cognitive learning in rats and finding that rewards motivate learning and improve performance, the biologist could conclude that the real rat is likely using some form of cognitive learning and decision making, potentially a cognitive map, to navigate the maze with an actual strategy rather than random choices. This inferred cognitive process may make its path more efficient than that of the "virtual rat," hence the shorter average length of run.