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The relevance of memory, arousal, and cue factors to developmental changes in spontaneous alternation by rats
Author(s) -
Egger Garry J.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420060510
Subject(s) - spontaneous alternation , alternation (linguistics) , psychology , developmental psychology , olfactory cues , arousal , conditioning , audiology , neuroscience , olfaction , medicine , hippocampus , linguistics , philosophy , statistics , mathematics
Three studies are reported which indicate that memory factors, heightened arousal, and differences in the use of cues are not responsible for the differences in spontaneous alternation (SA) behavior which have been typically found to exist between infant and adult rats. Experiment I examined memory as a factor by reducing intertrial intervals to a minimum. This manipulation did not alter alternation rates at any of the ages studied. Experiment II investigated the effect on alternation of reducing the heightened arousal of young rats by the use of the nonspecific depressant drug chlorpromazine hydrochloride. Alternation rates in both infant and adult rats were again unaffected. Experiment III indicated that 16‐day old rats are influenced by the same spatial and olfactory cues that evoke SA in mature animals, but that they tend to use these in a different fashion to adults. The results supported the hypothesis that inhibitory deficiencies in young animals are responsible for the typical perserverative pattern of choices made by these animals in an equal alternative 2‐choice T‐maze situation.