The acquisition of visual and auditory discriminations in male and female Wistar rats.
Different groups of male and female Wistar rats were trained to discriminate between visual or auditory stimuli in a discrete-trial experimental procedure. Presentation of one of the two visual stimuli or one of the two auditory stimuli was immediately followed by a 5-s presentation of the two levers. A press on the left lever was followed by food if one stimulus had been presented, while food was presented following a press on the right lever if the other stimulus had been presented. Incorrect responses or failure to respond during level presentation was always followed by presentation of the same visual or auditory stimulus once the intertrial interval had again expired. This sequence was consistently repeated until a correct response occurred. Discrimination performance improved as training progressed. Acquisition of the visual and auditory discrimination did not differ between males and females, although males were more likely than females to respond effectively during repeated trials (those trials which were initially incorrectly completed or not completed at all). The results of the present experiment make it likely that behavioral differences between the sexes in other experimental procedures are not due to differences in sensory discrimination abilities.
van Haaren
F
F
Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Amsterdam.
van Hest
A
A
D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D004193:Discrimination Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology*
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones