Virtual Radial Arm Maze Task

HED Task ID: hedtsk_virtual_radial_arm_maze

Also known as: Radial Arm Maze, vRAM, Virtual Radial Arm Maze, RAM

Virtual multi-arm maze in which participants retrieve rewards from each arm once; working-memory and reference-memory errors index spatial memory.

Description

The Virtual Radial Arm Maze is a spatial memory task adapted from the rodent paradigm. Participants navigate a central platform connected to 8 (or more) radial arms, some of which contain rewards. They must visit all rewarded arms while avoiding revisits (working memory errors) and unbaited arms (reference memory errors). The task dissociates reference memory (knowing which arms are baited across trials) from working memory (remembering which arms have been visited within a trial). Virtual versions rendered on computer screens or in VR maintain the spatial navigation demands while enabling human testing with precise measurement. The task engages hippocampal spatial memory systems and has been used extensively in pharmacological and developmental research.

Inclusion test

Procedure

In a virtual radial arm maze (typically 8 arms radiating from a center), some arms are baited with reward. Participants visit arms to collect rewards, using spatial cues to remember which arms have been visited.

Manipulation

Number of arms; number of baited arms; intra-maze vs. extra-maze cues; delay between visits.

Measurement

Reference memory errors (entering never-baited arms); working memory errors (re-entering already-visited baited arms); total errors to criterion.

Variations

Variation

Description

Justification

Standard 8-Arm Radial Maze

All arms baited; working memory errors = revisits.

Canonical 8-arm maze with bait at end of each arm

Partially Baited Maze (4 of 8)

Fixed subset baited; dissociates reference from working memory.

Only subset of arms baited; tests working memory for visited arms

12-Arm or 16-Arm Versions

More arms for greater difficulty and finer measurement.

Increased arm number; higher memory load

Virtual Reality (Immersive VR)

Head-mounted display for ecologically valid navigation.

Head-mounted display VR; full immersive spatial navigation

Desktop Virtual Maze

First-person navigation on a computer screen.

Screen-based navigation; different motor control

Maze with Landmarks

Distal and proximal cues to support allocentric navigation.

Salient landmarks aid navigation; tests landmark use

Cue-Removed Conditions

Removing landmarks to force egocentric strategies.

Landmarks removed mid-experiment; tests spatial memory without cues

Delay Variants

Imposed delay between arm visits to tax working memory.

Delay between choices tests retention

Probabilistic Reward Maze

Arms rewarded probabilistically rather than deterministically.

Arms probabilistically rather than deterministically rewarded

Cognitive processes

This task engages the following cognitive processes:

Key references

  • {‘authors’: ‘Olton, D. S., & Samuelson, R. J.’, ‘year’: 1976, ‘title’: ‘Remembrance of places passed: Spatial memory in rats.’, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes’, ‘volume’: ‘2’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘97-116’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0097-7403.2.2.97’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Olton, D. S., & Samuelson, R. J. (1976). Remembrance of places passed: Spatial memory in rats. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes, 2(2), 97–116.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0097-7403.2.2.97’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Levy, L. J., Astur, R. S., & Frick, K. M.’, ‘year’: 2005, ‘title’: ‘Men and Women Differ in Object Memory but Not Performance of a Virtual Radial Maze.’, ‘venue’: ‘Behavioral Neuroscience’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Behavioral Neuroscience’, ‘volume’: ‘119’, ‘issue’: ‘4’, ‘pages’: ‘853-862’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1037/0735-7044.119.4.853’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Levy, L. J., Astur, R. S., & Frick, K. M. (2005). Men and women differ in object memory but not performance of a virtual radial maze. Behavioral Neuroscience, 119(4), 853–862.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7044.119.4.853’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Astur, R. S., Tropp, J., Sava, S., Constable, R., & Markus, E. J.’, ‘year’: 2004, ‘title’: ‘Sex differences and correlations in a virtual Morris water task, a virtual radial arm maze, and mental rotation’, ‘venue’: ‘Behavioural Brain Research’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Behavioural Brain Research’, ‘volume’: ‘151’, ‘issue’: ‘1-2’, ‘pages’: ‘103-115’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.bbr.2003.08.024’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Astur, R. S., Tropp, J., Sava, S., Constable, R. T., & Markus, E. J. (2004). Sex differences and correlations in a virtual Morris water task, a virtual radial arm maze, and mental rotation. Behavioural Brain Research, 151(1-2), 103–115.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2003.08.024’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

Recent references

  • {‘authors’: ‘Konishi, K., & Bohbot, V. D.’, ‘year’: 2013, ‘title’: ‘Spatial navigational strategies correlate with gray matter in the hippocampus of healthy older adults tested in a virtual maze’, ‘venue’: ‘Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience’, ‘volume’: ‘5’, ‘issue’: ‘38’, ‘pages’: ‘15239–15245’, ‘doi’: ‘10.3389/fnagi.2013.00001’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Bohbot, V. D., Lerch, J., Bherer, L., Bhatt, P., & Graham, S. (2013). Gray matter differences correlate with spontaneous strategies in a human virtual navigation task. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(38), 15239–15245.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2013.00001’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Korthauer, L., Nowak, N., Frahmand, M., & Driscoll, I.’, ‘year’: 2017, ‘title’: ‘Cognitive correlates of spatial navigation: Associations between executive functioning and the virtual Morris Water Task’, ‘venue’: ‘Behavioural Brain Research’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Behavioural Brain Research’, ‘volume’: ‘317’, ‘issue’: None, ‘pages’: ‘470-478’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.bbr.2016.10.007’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Korthauer, L. E., Nowak, N. T., Frahmand, M., & Driscoll, I. (2017). Cognitive correlates of spatial navigation: Associations between executive function and the virtual radial arm maze. Behavioural Brain Research, 317, 82–92.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2016.10.007’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Cánovas, R., Espínola, M., Iribarne, L., & Cimadevilla, J. M.’, ‘year’: 2008, ‘title’: ‘A new virtual task to evaluate human place learning’, ‘venue’: ‘Behavioural Brain Research’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Behavioural Brain Research’, ‘volume’: ‘190’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘112-118’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.bbr.2008.02.024’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Cánovas, R., Espínola, M., Iribarne, L., & Cimadevilla, J. M. (2008). A new virtual task to evaluate human place learning. Behavioural Brain Research, 190(1), 112–118.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2008.02.024’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Wiener, J. M., de Condappa, O., Harris, M. A., & Wolbers, T.’, ‘year’: 2013, ‘title’: ‘Maladaptive Bias for Extrahippocampal Navigation Strategies in Aging Humans’, ‘venue’: ‘The Journal of Neuroscience’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘The Journal of Neuroscience’, ‘volume’: ‘33’, ‘issue’: ‘14’, ‘pages’: ‘6012-6017’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1523/jneurosci.0717-12.2013’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Wiener, J. M., de Condappa, O., Harris, M. A., & Wolbers, T. (2013). Maladaptive bias for extrahippocampal navigation strategies in aging humans. Journal of Neuroscience, 33(14), 6012–6017.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0717-12.2013’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}