The von Restorff effect in rats (Rattus norvegicus).

Two experiments examined the functional equivalence of memory in the rat (Rattus norvegicus) with memory in humans for serially presented items. Memory was assayed with an 8-arm radial maze, in which rats were allowed access to 5 arms of the maze and were then removed. Following a retention interval of 16 min, the rats were replaced in the maze and allowed to retrieve pellets from the 3 unvisited arms. The errors in reentering previously visited arms were noted. Both primacy and recency effects were found as with humans. Presenting a stimulus change after entry to 1 of the maze arms improved recall for that arm relative to when no change occurred. This effect was found using both handling and tone cues, and irrespective of whether the change consisted of presentation or nonpresentation of the cue. These results suggest that rats are subject to a von Restorff-like effect similar to that in humans.