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Early selective visual experience and pattern discrimination in hooded rats
Author(s) -
Corrigan James G.,
Carpenter David L.
Publication year - 1979
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.420120108
Subject(s) - orientation (vector space) , psychology , cognitive psychology , geometry , mathematics
The early visual experience of hooded rats was restricted to either vertical or horizontal stripes. In a discrimination task pairing a gray surface and stripes of either the same orientation or an orientation orthogonal to that experienced during rearing, the rats made significantly fewer correct choices with the orthogonal orientation. However, the relatively lower overall performance of the vertically reared‐horizontally tested animals was a major factor in the main effect of testing condition. We conclude that functional modification of the rat visual system through early selective visual experience is possible.