Chamizo V D, Torres M N, Rodríguez C A, Mackintosh N J
Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK.
Learn Behav. 2019 Jun;47(2):156-165. doi: 10.3758/s13420-018-0364-8.
In three experiments, rats of different ages were trained in a circular pool to find a hidden platform whose location was defined in terms of a single landmark, a cylinder outside the pool. Following training, two main components of the landmark, its shape and pattern, were tested individually. Experiment 1 was performed by adolescent and adult rats (Exp. 1a, males; Exp. 1b, females). Adult rats always learned faster than the adolescent animals. On test trials, interesting tendencies were found-mainly, one favoring males on the shape test trial, and another favoring females on the pattern test trial. Experiment 2 was conducted only with adolescent rats, and these males and females did not differ when learning the task. However, on test trials the males learned more about the landmark shape component than about the landmark pattern component, while the females learned equally about the two components of the landmark. Finally, Experiment 3 was conducted only with adult rats, and again the males and females did not differ when learning the task. However, on test trials the males learned equally about the two components of the landmark (shape and pattern), but the females learned more about the landmark pattern component than about the landmark shape component. This set of experiments supports the claim that male and female rats can learn rather different things about a landmark that signals the location of the platform, with age being a critical variable.
在三项实验中，不同年龄的大鼠在圆形水池中接受训练，以找到一个隐藏的平台，该平台的位置由单个地标（水池外的一个圆柱体）来确定。训练后，分别测试了地标物的两个主要组成部分，即其形状和图案。实验1由青春期大鼠和成年大鼠进行（实验1a，雄性；实验1b，雌性）。成年大鼠总是比青春期动物学得更快。在测试试验中，发现了有趣的倾向——主要是，在形状测试试验中雄性表现更好，而在图案测试试验中雌性表现更好。实验2仅用青春期大鼠进行，这些雄性和雌性在学习任务时没有差异。然而，在测试试验中，雄性大鼠对地标形状组成部分的学习比地标图案组成部分更多，而雌性大鼠对地标这两个组成部分的学习程度相同。最后，实验3仅用成年大鼠进行，同样，雄性和雌性在学习任务时没有差异。然而，在测试试验中，雄性大鼠对地标物的两个组成部分（形状和图案）学习程度相同，但雌性大鼠对地标图案组成部分的学习比地标形状组成部分更多。这组实验支持了这样一种说法，即雄性和雌性大鼠对于指示平台位置的地标物可以学到相当不同的东西，年龄是一个关键变量。
