How is radial arm maze behavior in rats related to locomotor search tactics?

Norway rats have been shown to depend on short-term spatial memory to find food on a radial arm maze (RAM), but what locomotor search tactics are invo lved in using this memory effectively? Four experiments distinguished tacti cs of distance minimizing, central-place search, trail following, thigmotac tic search, and random search by using different configurations of a RAM pl aced flat on the floor of an arena These search tactics make similar predic tions on an elevated RAM: but predict different outcomes on a floor RAM bec ause the rats are free to approach the food from any direction. After initi al trials dominated by exploration, rats traveled along arms to food, even when the resultant distance was up to three times the minimum distance. Wit h no food present, rats also traveled along arms; with no arms up to presen t, they traveled along walls to food. It appears that both maze arms and ar ena walls engage mechanisms related to trail following in rats.