title: The reliability of the hole-board apparatus.
abstract: Two aspects of the reliability of the hole-board apparatus were investigated-the similarity between scores of different samples of the same population on their first exposure to the apparatus, and the test-retest reliability. Rats and mice were given a 5-min exposure to the hole-board and then retested for 5 min after 1, 2 or 8 days. Male rats and mice showed good initial exposure reliability, whereas the female mouse groups differed significantly. All animals showed a positive test-retest correlation (range 0.31-0.78), but a homogeneous group (e.g. all animals habituating) produced higher correlations (range 0.60-0.99). Comparison of scores on the two 5-min exposures showed that not all groups showed significant habituation, but the animals exposed to the hole-board for two 10-min periods showed both significant habituation and test-retest reliability.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic; D008297:Male; D008722:Methods; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D009043:Motor Activity; D011589:Psychology, Experimental / Q000295:instrumentation*; D051381:Rats; D012737:Sex Factors