Memory for timing visual and auditory signals in albino and pigmented rats.
The authors hypothesized that during a gap in a timed signal, the time accumulated during the pregap interval decays at a rate proportional to the perceived salience of the gap, influenced by sensory acuity and signal intensity. When timing visual signals, albino (Sprague-Dawley) rats, which have poor visual acuity, stopped timing irrespective of gap duration, whereas pigmented (Long-Evans) rats, which have good visual acuity, stopped timing for short gaps but reset timing for long gaps. Pigmented rats stopped timing during a gap in a low-intensity visual signal and reset after a gap in a high-intensity visual signal, suggesting that memory for time in the gap procedure varies with the perceived salience of the gap, possibly through an attentional mechanism.
Buhusi
Catalin V
CV
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA. catalin.buhusi@duke.edu
Perera
Dinushi
D
Meck
Warren H
WH
D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention; D001307:Auditory Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D051381:Rats; D020318:Rats, Long-Evans / Q000523:psychology*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley / Q000523:psychology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012055:Reinforcement Schedule; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D013045:Species Specificity; D013998:Time Perception; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014796:Visual Perception