Probe trials
What a probe trial is (and why rats can cheat)
Animals are clever. Sometimes too clever for our tests.
An animal can get good at the water maze without ever learning where the platform is. It might swim at a set distance from the wall, or sweep across the pool in a pattern. The original notes called this cheating, and suggested the probe trial as one way to check:
Rats can cheat!
Instead of learning where the platform is, they can learn search strategies. E.g., swim around at some distance from the side, or guess where the platform is, and make a series of sweeps. A good analysis program helps you distinguish this from spatial learning. Probe trials: There is no platform. The trial ends after 1-2 mins with you rescuing the rat. Only do this on trained rats, and not too often. Done at the start, it tests for spatial bias. Done at the end of training, it tests the rat's spatial learning.
Original text: watermaze.org Part I, General Information. From original material by Richard Baker. Reproduced unchanged. Copyright Richard Baker© 2013. All Rights Reserved.
: Only do probe trials on trained rats, and not too often.
HVS Image explains preference for the target quadrant, the most common probe measure.
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