Environmental Familiarity Research Articles

Acute and chronic cocaine behavioral effects in novel versus familiar environments: open-field familiarity differentiates cocaine locomotor stimulant effects from cocaine emotional behavioral effects

Cocaine is a potent stimulant drug, but its stimulant effects can be substantially modulated by environmental novelty versus familiarity. In this report, we varied exposures to a novel environment as a way to assess the impact of environmental familiarity versus novelty upon the locomotor activation induced by acute and chronic cocaine treatments. In experiment 1, the effects of 1 (PE1) versus 0 (PE0) pre-exposures to the test environment were compared for their impact upon the locomotor stimulant, central zone entry and grooming effects induced by an acute cocaine (10 mg/kg) treatment. In experiment 2, the effects of 10 (PE10) versus 0 (PE0) pre-exposures upon the cocaine effects were compared. Experiment 3 assessed the effects of nine cocaine treatments (10.0 mg/kg) initiated in a novel environment (PE0) versus familiar environment (PE10). In all experiments, cocaine had a potent locomotor stimulant effect in a novel environment, which was attenuated by environmental familiarity such that in PE10 groups, cocaine did not reliably induce an acute locomotor stimulant effect. Environmental novelty/familiarity, however, did not reliably alter cocaine effects upon central zone penetration, grooming behavior, or the neurochemical effects induced by cocaine. In the chronic treatment regimen, the PE0 group exhibited a tolerance-like decrease in locomotor activation, but the PE10 group exhibited a sensitization-like increase in locomotor activation. Despite the marked directional changes in the locomotor stimulant effects of cocaine treatments, initiated in a novel (PE0) versus familiar (PE10) environment, the same asymptotic levels of locomotor activation were achieved. In contrast, the behavioral measures of central zone activity progressively increased with repeated treatments regardless of whether the environment was initially novel (PE0) or familiar (PE10). Thus, habituation factors can profoundly alter the locomotor stimulant effects of cocaine and can induce pseudo-tolerance phenomena. In contrast, central zone activity undergoes sensitization-like effects independent of habituation state and therefore appears to represent a more fundamental behavioral effect of cocaine. In that, central zone penetration in an open-field is linked to emotional processes; this finding is of substantial importance in understanding the effects of repeated cocaine usage.

Novel-object place conditioning: behavioral and dopaminergic processes in expression of novelty reward

In a choice situation, rats given repeated access to novel objects in one of two distinct environments display an increase in preference for the novelty-paired environment. The experiments in this present report extend the generality of this effect to new procedures. Further, this shift in preference depends on object novelty; no systematic shift in preference was observed if the environment was paired with a familiar object. Experiments in the present report also provided evidence against non-associative accounts that rely on mechanisms that leave the paired environment more novel than the unpaired environment (e.g. object interaction interfering with environmental familiarization). Consistent with a conditioning account is the loss of place conditioning when access time with the novel objects was shortened from 10 min to 5 or 2.5 min. Interestingly, although a decrease in time with objects prevented place conditioning, these groups showed a novelty-conditioned increase in activity. Finally, treatment with the dopamine D 1 antagonist SCH-23390 (0.03 mg/kg) or the dopamine D 2/D 3 antagonist eticlopride (0.1 mg/kg) before the post-conditioning preference test blocked expression of the novel-object place conditioning. Taken together, these experiments establish that the increased preference produced by object-environment pairings reflects a conditioned association between environmental cues and the appetitive effects of receiving access to novel stimuli.

Product innovativeness from the firm’s perspective: its dimensions and their relation with project selection and performance

There has recently been tremendous interest in product innovativeness. However, it seems that we need a better understanding of exactly what product innovativeness means. This article presents a conceptual framework to clarify its meaning. The framework first distinguishes customer and firm perspectives on product innovativeness. From the customer’s perspective, innovation attributes, adoption risks, and levels of change in established behavior patterns are regarded as forms of product newness. Within the firm’s perspective, environmental familiarity and project-firm fit, and technological and marketing aspects are proposed as dimensions of product innovativeness. Next, the article offers a tentative empirical test of the proposed dimensions of product innovativeness from the firm’s perspective. A well-known dataset of 262 industrial new product projects is used to: 1) clarify the product innovativeness construct and examine its underlying dimensions, 2) examine the relation of product innovativeness with the decision to pursue or kill the project, and 3) examine the relationship between product innovativeness and product performance. Five dimensions of product innovativeness are found which have distinct relations with the Go/No Go decision and product performance: market familiarity, technological familiarity, marketing fit, technological fit, and new marketing activities. Most strikingly, measures of fit are related to product performance, whereas measures of familiarity are not. The article concludes that researchers need to be careful about which definitions and measures of product innovativeness they employ, because depending on their choice they may arrive at different findings. New product practitioners are encouraged to evaluate new product opportunities primarily in terms of their fit with their firm’s resources and skills rather than the extent to which they are “close to home.”

Environmental Familiarization in Rats: Differential Effects of Acute and Chronic Nicotine

If an environment is familiar, rats will interact more with a novel object than if the environment is unfamiliar. In two experiments we used this behavioral tendency to assess the effects of nicotine on environmental familiarization (i.e., an elevated platform). As expected, rats given 2 min of exposure to the platform on 2 consecutive days (familiarization phase) interacted more with a novel object in a subsequent test than rats that had not experienced the platform until the test day. During the familiarization phase acute pretreatment with nicotine (0.6 and 1.8 mg/kg, subcutaneous) 10 min before platform exposure interfered with familiarization processes, as measured by object interaction on the drug-free test day. Behavioral measures of activity (e.g., turning and midline crosses) eliminated an account based on nicotine-induced motor impairment. Furthermore, this effect of acute nicotine on familiarization was not due to nonspecific effects of nicotine. Controls that received equivalent nicotine exposure temporally separated from platform exposure interacted more with the novel object than similarly treated controls that were unfamiliar with the platform on the test day. Interestingly, rats treated once daily with 0.6 mg/kg nicotine for 14 days before the familiarization phase (chronic condition) did not show a decrease in environmental familiarity. This dissociation extends a growing literature finding that the behavioral and neurobiological effects of nicotine differ, in part, after acute and chronic exposure. Indeed, acute nicotine (0.2, 0.6, and 1.2 mg/kg) in the present report consistently decreased the amount of time spent with one paw on the edge of the platform; chronic nicotine did not affect this behavior.

The role of environmental familiarization in novel-object preference

The experiments in this report examined the behavioral variables modulating novel-object preference in a widely used ‘object recognition’ preparation. This preparation takes advantage of the tendency of rats to interact more with a novel than a familiar ‘sample’ object in a free-choice situation. Experiment 1 examined the interaction between environmental familiarization and the duration of sample-object exposure in the development of a novel-object preference. Interaction with the sample object during sample-object exposure was increased when rats were given time in the environment prior to presentation of the sample object. Also, provided that the sample-object exposure was greater than 2 min, rats given environmental familiarization time prior to sample-object exposure displayed a novel-object preference. Rats that received the same amount of sample-object exposure without prior exposure to the environment alone did not discriminate between the sample and novel object. In Experiments 2 and 3, sample-object exposure occurred in a different environment than the novel-object test. Novel-object preference was not affected regardless of whether that testing environment was familiar or novel. This result differs from previous work that finds that an object recovers some novelty when moved to a new spatial location.

Dimensions of Knowledge: Comparing Asian and Western MNEs in China

This study compares knowledge and its performance effects between Asian and Western MNEs in the People's Republic of China. It examines knowledge differences along four dimensions including technological skills, organizational capabilities, marketing knowledge, and environment familiarity between two groups. The discriminant analysis of the survey data containing 178 MNE sub-units in China suggests that Asian MNEs are inferior in technological and organizational competencies but superior in host country-specific knowledge such as marketing tactics and environmental familiarity, compared to Western counterparts. Despite such differences, knowledge in all four dimensions is found to enhance financial returns and overall performance for sample firms no matter where they come from. The logic underlying the dominance of Asian MNEs in China's FDI, from economic, cultural, and institutional perspectives, is also highlighted.

Choice of location and mode: the case of Australian investors in the UK

Internationalising firms must choose what foreign markets they will enter and in what sequence. Once the markets have been identified they must decide how they will service each market. If they choose to establish a business in a particular market they must decide whether to take over an existing firm or to establish a new one, and whether to joint-venture with another firm. This study examines the decision making of Australian manufacturing subsidiaries in the UK. The results reveal that environmental familiarity is important in the choice of location, transportation costs influence entry mode, technological and demand factors determine the choice of acquisition or greenfield entry and a desire for control leads firms to eschew joint-ventures.

Developmental aspects of kin recognition.

The ability to recognise kin requires the individual to possess a variety of abilities. Individuals must produce a cue which indicates relatedness, they must process this cue to determine relatedness and then must act on this cue. Research has concentrated on the first and final stage of this process, i.e., the cues of kinship and kin correlated behaviour. Little attention has been paid to how individuals process cues to determine relatedness. This paper discusses how individuals 'recognise' kin, the exhibition of kin correlated behaviour and considers the role of the MHC in these processes. Two broad theories have emerged to explain how individuals recognise their kin: either a recognition gene(s) or some experiential mechanism. In mammals there is no evidence to suggest that recognition (the processing of the cue) is under genetic control but rather is the result of experience, learning about related individuals during development. Moreover studies on kin recognition in the domestic dog suggest that all kin are not recognised by the same process but different classes of kin, parents, siblings may well be recognised using different means. Studies of kin correlated behaviour suggest that the behaviour exhibited towards kin by Mongolian gerbils is mediated by the environment. Factors of environmental familiarity, sex and developmental age all affect the response of individuals to kin and non-kin. In these situations the ability to recognise kin does not change but the exhibition of kin correlated behaviour changes according to environmental conditions. These studies indicate that kin recognition may not be the 'unified' process previously thought and thus any explanations of the proximate and ultimate causation of kin recognition need to encompass this complexity. The question remains of whether the MHC is complex enough to do so.

The effect of housing conditions and social environment immediately after weaning on the agonistic behaviour, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio, and plasma glucose level in pigs

Abstract We investigated the effect of different weaning methods the on group agonistic behaviour, and the two physiological parameters neutrophil/lymphocyte ( N L ) ratio and individual plasma glucose level in 16 groups of pigs (10 animals/group). Measures were taken 1–2 days before, 0–1 days, and 3–4 days after weaning. Different degrees of environmental familiarity were induced by placing weaned piglets either into unfamiliar enclosures (UE) or leaving them in their familiar housing environment (FE). Half of these treatment groups consisted of littermates (LM), the other groups were built up from piglets of different litters (DL). Hence, four treatment groups were produced in a 2×2 factorial design each consisting of 4 groups (10 pigs/group). The piglets reacted differently with respect to the time of the behavioural and physiological stress response after weaning. Whereas most changes in agonistic behaviour occurred at day 4 after weaning (day −1 vs. day 4), the two physiological parameters particularly changed at day 1 after weaning (day −1 vs. day 1). Agonistic behaviour increased significantly over time, and this effect was significantly affected by housing condition (UE or FE) and social environment (LM or DL). At four days after weaning, the N L ratio declined after an initial increase one day after weaning to a level which was similar to the level before weaning. Nevertheless, the N L ratio changed significantly with time and was affected by housing condition. One day after weaning only the piglets which were brought to an unfamiliar housing environment showed an increase of plasma glucose level. No overall effect of time could be observed. In summary, newly weaned piglets appear to have more problems coping with an unfamiliar housing environment than coping with unfamiliar piglets. Whilst the physiological effects are very transient, the behavioural adaptation (e.g. agonistic behaviour) continues to rise to day 4. The present study indicates that behavioural and physiological measures that can be gained easily reflect the animals' ability to cope with environmental conditions as well as social disturbances. It is concluded that simultaneous effects of social and non-social environmental changes, though regularly met in animal husbandry, are still poorly understood and need further research in order to shed more light upon the behavioural and physiological events during these processes.

Effects of social and environmental familiarity on group preferences and spacing behaviour in laying hens

Litter-kept hens were tested using a ‘free-choice’ situation, to investigate the effects of social and environmental familiarity on their spacing behaviour. In Experiment 1, social familiarity affected spacing, with subject birds which were familiar with each other spreading evenly over the available area as evidenced by a significantly lower ‘Spread of Participation Index’ (mean SPI 0.301–0.406), whereas less familiar birds clumped (mean SPI 0.453–0.646; P < 0.01) and fought more frequently. There were no clear effects of environmental familiarity. In a second experiment we used a T-maze to investigate effects of social familiarity on group preferences and behaviour in the chosen groups. There was no significant preference for familiar, semi-familiar or unfamiliar groups of companion hens. However, the incidence of aggressive pecks was significantly higher in small semi-familiar (mean 1.1 ± 0.6 pecks per hen per 5 min) and unfamiliar (mean 1.8 ± 0.5 pecks per hen per 5 min) than in large semi-familiar (mean 0.1 ± 0.1 pecks per hen per 5 min) and unfamiliar groups (0.1 ± 0.1 pecks per hen per 5 min; P < 0.001). Threats were more common in small familiar groups (0.2 ± 0.1 threats per hen per 5 min) than in small semi-familiar groups (0.1 ± 0.1 threats per hen per 5 min; P < 0.05) and were absent in the remaining group options. Relative social dominance of the subject hens had no effect on choices or on behaviour and there was no significant correlation with their behaviour in the companion hen groups. The results suggested that hens were unable to distinguish the relative familiarity level of companion hens from the T-maze or, alternatively, that making such a distinction was unnecessarily costly to the subject hens.

Choice autonomy and memory for spatial locations in six-year-old children.

Six-year-old children were presented with 12 identically labelled locations in a room and required to search non-redundantly for the six that contained rewards. On each day they could commit Across-Trial Memory (ATM) errors by visiting non-rewarded locations, or Within-Trial Memory (WTM) errors by revisiting locations previously visited that day. Groups were trained for nine days, either walking or pushed in a wheelchair, and with or without freedom of choice. They were then tested, walking with freedom of choice. Performance of the task improved significantly across training days in groups allowed free choice, whether walking or transported, and was superior at test to that of non-choosing groups. Throughout training and testing, the ATM component of performance was superior in groups allowed free choice. WTM was more accurate than would be expected by chance in all subjects at all stages of the experiment, but did not differ between groups. The problem of comparing WTM scores in groups differing in ATM accuracy was discussed. It was concluded that the primary benefit of free choice in spatial memory tasks is that it promotes accurate environmental segmentation, and that WTM is little affected by training or environmental familiarity.

Spatial memory and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonists APV and MK-801: memory impairments depend on familiarity with the environment, drug dose, and training duration.

Rats given N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonists were tested in the radial maze in spatial working memory (WM) and reference memory (RM) tasks. Female rats given (+)-10,11-dihydro-5-methyl-5H-dibenzo [a,d] cycloheptene-5,10 imine (MK-801; 0.0625 mg/kg ip) before daily testing in an 8-arm WM task were impaired even after 70 days. Control rats learned quickly, were assigned to a group given MK-801 or saline, and were trained to avoid 4 of the 8 arms. MK-801 impaired this reversal learning but did not affect WM performance. Male rats were trained on an 8-arm WM task for 19 days and then given intracranial aminophosphonovaleric acid (APV; 33 mM), which impaired both WM and motor behavior. Male rats were trained for 65 days to enter 4 of 8 arms and then given intracranial APV (20 or 30 mM). WM and RM were normal in the familiar environment but were both impaired in an unfamiliar environment. Results suggest that the mnemonic effects of NMDA antagonists depend on environmental familiarity, dose, and training duration.

Scent marking and social relationships in pine martens (Martes martes)

AbstractScent marking was studied in pine martens (Martes martes) in female‐female and male‐female pairs. Results show that agonistically dominant individuals generally had higher scent marking frequencies. However, environmental familiarity can modify the social relationship, whatever the previous social experiences, and, consequently, marking activity. Despite important intra‐and interindividual variations, the subjects appeared to react to physical and social modifications by an increased marking rate. One factor affecting marking activity in both novel and established pairs was the activity level of the conspecific partner. the data support the hypothesis that pine martens react in the same way to physical and social modifications, but with different response levels. The discussion focuses on possible functions of scent marking. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

Effects of familiarity and plan complexity on wayfinding in simulated buildings

While numerous studies have investigated the relationship between environmental familiarity and spatial cognition, no research has systematically examined the effects of familiarity on wayfinding performance. This experiment used a 5 × 5 factorial design to investigate the effects of floor plan complexity and degree of familiarity on spatial cognition and wayfinding. Subjects received five trials within one of five computer-simulated environments representing a range of plan complexity. Wayfinding performance data was collected during each trial. After all trials were completed, environmental knowledge was assessed through a sketchmap task. MANOVAs showed that wayfinding performance significantly decreased as a function of plan complexity. Plan complexity also significantly influenced sketchmap accuracy. Trend analysis showed a significant linear trend for wayfinding errors, which decreased with experience. This analysis also revealed a signficant interaction between plan complexity and experience on wayfinding. The findings suggest that environmental complexity has less of an impact on wayfinding as familiarity increases.

Spatial cognition and behavior in young and elderly adults: Implications for learning new environments.

Young and elderly women's performances on scene-recognition, distance-ranking, route-execution, and map-placement tasks were compared in familiar and novel supermarkets to seek evidence of an age-related deficit in spatial cognitive performance, a benefit of environmental familiarity, and an age-related decrement in the efficiency of spatial learning. Results suggested that younger adults acquired spatial information in a novel environment more quickly than did elderly adults, but findings indicated neither an age-related deficit in spatial cognitive performance nor a benefit of environmental familiarity. Scores from psychometric tests produced low correlations with cognitive task performance. Of the behaviors observed during exploration and route execution, only 1 was significantly correlated with cognitive task performance. Standing without scanning was negatively correlated with performance on 3 tasks for elderly adults only.

Spatial cognition and behavior in young and elderly adults: Implications for learning new environments.

Young and elderly women's performances on scene-recognition, distance-ranking, route-execution, and map-placement tasks were compared in familiar and novel supermarkets to seek evidence of an age-related deficit in spatial cognitive performance, a benefit of environmental familiarity, and an age-related decrement in the efficiency of spatial learning. Results suggested that younger adults acquired spatial information in a novel environment more quickly than did elderly adults, but findings indicated neither an age-related deficit in spatial cognitive performance nor a benefit of environmental familiarity. Scores from psychometric tests produced low correlations with cognitive task performance. Of the behaviors observed during exploration and route execution, only 1 was significantly correlated with cognitive task performance. Standing without scanning was negatively correlated with performance on 3 tasks for elderly adults only.

The effects of age and environmental familiarity on adults' spatial problem-solving performance: evidence of a hometown advantage.

A coordination of perspectives problem was presented to young, middle-aged, and elderly adults in two spatial settings. In a novel spatial array, elderly adults were less accurate than the other groups under both perspective-taking and mental rotation instructions, and mental rotation was more difficult than perspective-taking for the elderly adults. In contrast, there were no differences between age groups or between perspective-taking and mental rotation when the problem was presented using locations in the subjects' hometown. An explanation based on working memory demands was suggested for these results.

Morphine-induced place conditioning is not confounded by drug-induced alterations in locomotor activity.

The influence of locomotor activity and environmental familiarity upon the reinforcing effects of morphine was examined in an unbiased place preference conditioning procedure. Groups of rats were trained to associate one distinctive environment with morphine and another with saline. One group was made tolerant to the locomotor activity effects of morphine by the SC administration of morphine (5.0 mg/kg/12 hr) for four days prior to conditioning. The other group received injections of saline. Administration of morphine, at doses which decreased locomotor activity, resulted in marked preferences for the drug-associated place in saline-treated rats. In contrast, chronic morphine treatment resulted in tolerance to the sedative effects of morphine and an abolition of the morphine-induced place preference. These results indicate that in the place conditioning procedure, measures of reinforcement are not confounded by drug-induced increases in activity.

Behavioral effects of THC as a function of environment and prior drug experience

Holtzman albino rats were divided into 4 groups, and on 5 consecutive days each group was exposed to one of 4 conditions. The drug-adapted group was given delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (0.0, 0.5, 2.5 or 5.0 mg/kg PO) in their home cages, while the environment-adapted group was given vehicle and placed for one hr in the chamber where they were later tested. The naive group was given vehicle in their home cages and the drug + environment adapted group was given THC and placed in the test chamber. One week later, all rats were given either 0.0, 0.5, 2.5, or 5.0 mg/kg THC and placed in the test chamber where standing, sitting, and behavioral activity were measured. The results showed that the behavioral effects of THC are a function of environmental familiarity in rats who are drug naive but not in rats given prior exposure to THC.

Loss of topographic familiarity. An environmental agnosia.

Sixteen patients manifested the syndrome of loss of environmental familiarity. The syndrome is characterized by an inability to recognize familiar surroundings in spite of relatively intact verbal memory, cognition, and perception. In addition to the loss of environmental familiarity, other clinical disturbances, including central achromatopsia, prosopagnosia, palinopsia, visual hallucinations, dressing disturbances, or impaired revisualization, were present in several cases. Radiologic studies revealed that all patients had right medial temporo-occipital lesions; three had additional left-sided lesions. Clinical observations suggest that the syndrome is a class-specific agnosia similar to prosopagnosia.