2024-03-28T23:32:21Zhttps://keep.lib.asu.edu/oai/requestoai:keep.lib.asu.edu:node-1377362021-08-11T21:09:57Zoai_pmh:all137736
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.16918
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
2013-05
13 pages
eng
Tran, Alexander Chauson
Phillips, Elizabeth Capaldi
Jacobs, Mark
Bajaj, Devina
Barrett, The Honors College
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Text
Previous studies showed that rats preferred and also ran faster for multiple pellets than a single pellet of food. Here, we manipulated the rewarding effects of surface area occupied by food pellets on preference and running speed of rats trained on a T-maze. Twenty-two male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to prefer one T-maze arm containing 30 food pellets scattered and the other arm with 30 pellets clustered. There was a significant preference for clustered food pieces over the scattered ones. The choice of the clustered food pieces may be explained by the optimal foraging theory to maximize energy gain. Therefore, larger surface area occupied by food pieces may be less rewarding when unnecessary energy is expended.
Rats
Optimal Foraging Theory
Food Pieces
Surface Area
The Rewarding Effects of the Surface Area Occupied by Food in Rats