Signals for food facilitate gerbils' foraging behaviour

Abstract

To determine if cues signalling the availability of food results in more effective foraging, we trained experimental but not control gerbils to associate a cue (a wire mesh-or pebble-covered floor) with food availability in a Y-maze. Both experimental and control subjects were subsequently tested on an eight arm radial maze foraging task. For both groups half of the arms contained food; for the experimental group the baited arms contained the cue previously associated with food. Trained subjects foraged much more efficiently, a result consistent with the notion that animals utilize cues signalling the presence of food to guide their foraging behaviour.