title: Auditory working and reference memory can be tested in a single situation of stimuli for the rat.
abstract: The comparison of working and reference memory is one of the most valuable research angles for revealing the precise neural mechanisms of memory. The present study introduces a method to test both auditory working and reference memory during a short period in the rat. The apparatus and stimuli are identical for both memory tasks. High and low tones, between which lies a 5-s interval, are continuously presented. The task for working memory is a continuous nonmatching-to-sample. The rat makes go and no-go responses to indicate whether the current tone is the same as (match) or different from (nonmatch) the preceding tone. The task for reference memory is a continuous discrimination. The rat makes go responses on high-tone trials and no-go responses on low-tone trials. With alternate training in these tasks, the rat comes to perform well in both tasks. The rat can only know which task is employed in a given session from its own response-reward contingency during the early trials of each session.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakurai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior; D001245:Association Learning; D003216:Conditioning, Operant; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D010898:Pitch Perception; D051381:Rats; D012153:Retention, Psychology