Exploratory locomotion is movement through an unfamiliar area, or around unfamiliar objects, that serves to acquire information about them rather than to reach a known resource [1]. It is defined by that function but measured by its motor expression—speed of travel and the number and diversity of items contacted—so that faster and slower explorers differ in how much information they sample rather than in whether they explore at all [2]. The same movements also reflect general ambulatory ability and emotionality, so distance travelled in an open field cannot by itself be read as exploration [3], and exploration declines when the environment offers little complexity to sample [1].
- exploratory locomotion
- exploration
- information acquisition
- open field test
- environmental complexity
Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies • Small Animals • Veterinary • Health Sciences
References
- Wojciech Pisula; Klaudia Modlinska; Animals in Search of Stimulation and Information: A Review of over 10 years of our Research on Spontaneous Exploration in Rats as a Response to Novelty in Low-Stress Paradigm. Anim. Behav. Cogn. 2023, 10, 287-303. [CrossRef]
- Isabel Rojas‐Ferrer; M. J. Thompson; Julie Morand‐Ferron; Is exploration a metric for information gathering? Attraction to novelty and plasticity in black‐capped chickadees. Ethology 2019, 126, 383-392. [CrossRef]
- Michael L. Seibenhener; Michael C. Wooten; Use of the Open Field Maze to Measure Locomotor and Anxiety-like Behavior in Mice. J. Vis. Exp. 2015, 6, e52434-e52434. [CrossRef]