The HED Task Catalog is under development. IDs are not stable until formal release. Comments are welcome at github.com/hed-standard/hed-task/issues.

Virtual Radial Arm Maze Task

HED task ID: hedtsk_virtual_radial_arm_maze

Family: Spatial cognition and navigation tasks

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

An experiment is an instance of this task when its procedure matches, it manipulates at least one of the listed variables, and it records at least one of the listed measures.

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

Named versions that change what the participant experiences or does. The identifier of a variation is hedvar_<task>__<variation>.

Variation	Description	Justification
Standard 8-Arm Radial Maze hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__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) hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__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 hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__12_arm_or_16_arm_versions	More arms for greater difficulty and finer measurement.	Increased arm number; higher memory load
Virtual Reality (Immersive VR) hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__virtual_reality_immersive_vr	Head-mounted display for ecologically valid navigation.	Head-mounted display VR; full immersive spatial navigation
Desktop Virtual Maze hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__desktop_virtual_maze	First-person navigation on a computer screen.	Screen-based navigation; different motor control
Maze with Landmarks hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__maze_with_landmarks	Distal and proximal cues to support allocentric navigation.	Salient landmarks aid navigation; tests landmark use
Cue-Removed Conditions hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__cue_removed_conditions	Removing landmarks to force egocentric strategies.	Landmarks removed mid-experiment; tests spatial memory without cues
Delay Variants hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__delay_variants	Imposed delay between arm visits to tax working memory.	Delay between choices tests retention
Probabilistic Reward Maze hedvar_virtual_radial_arm_maze__probabilistic_reward_maze	Arms rewarded probabilistically rather than deterministically.	Arms probabilistically rather than deterministically rewarded

Cognitive processes

This task is designed to engage the following processes:

• Spatial memory

• Spatial working memory

• Encoding

• Retrieval

Key references

• 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. (DOI)

• 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. (DOI, PubMed)

• 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. (DOI, PubMed)

Further references

• Bohbot, V. D., Lerch, J., Bherer, L., Bhatt, P., & Graham, S. (2007). Gray matter differences correlate with spontaneous strategies in a human virtual navigation task. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(38), 10078-10083. (DOI)

• 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. (DOI, PubMed)

• 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. (DOI, PubMed)

• 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. (DOI, PubMed)