Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to determine if there were specific odor components in the goalbox of a straight alleyway following reward and nonreward trials. Behavioral research has convincingly demonstrated that, unless the goalbox is cleaned between animals, a pattern of slow running on nonreward trials and fast running on reward trials soon develops. It has been proposed that the rat emits an odor in the goalbox following nonreward which allows following conspecifics to predict the upcoming goal event before reaching the goalbox. Behavioral research has been unable to determine if there are specific odors associated with reward and nonreward, or if there is only one odor of varying concentration, or if only one odor is present and the cue for the other condition is merely the absence of that odor. The results of this study strongly suggest that there are specific odors in the goalbox as a result of nonreward and reward. They further suggest that these “reward” and “nonreward” odors are different from the odors of food and urine, and that the “reward” and “nonreward” odors, although different, may possibly be similar in chemical structure.
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