A novel contextual dimension for use with an operant chamber: From simple to hierarchical forms of learning

A novel procedure is described in which the floor temperatures (warm and co ol) in an operant chamber are used as contextual cues in 2 experiments with rats. Experiment 1 demonstrated that rats learn the relationship between t hese thermal contexts and auditory stimuli that have been paired with them. Experiment 2 showed that thermal contexts can serve a conditional function that (a) reflects the operation of a mechanism that is common to conventio nal, visual contexts and (b) is bound to these contexts' ability to retriev e the nature of the relationship between the auditory stimuli and food.