A Delayed Discrimination Procedure for Rats
Abstract
A procedure for the rapid training of rats on a delayed conditional discrimination task is described. During a 10-sec sample period, a tone was presented and stimulus lights were either on over both levers or off over both levers. Following a delay, the light over only one of the levers was illuminated, and responding was reinforced on either the lighted or the dark lever, depending on whether the lights over both levers had been on or off during the sample period. With a sample-choice delay of .01 se, rats acquired this task to a mean of 86% correct within 9 days of approximately 619 trials per day. Performance over increasing delays was studied, with accuracy falling to chance levels at 32 sec. Responding was biased toward the light-on zero-delay trials, but there was no light bias with longer delays.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA237713
Entities
People
- John K. Parkinson
- Timothy F. Elsmore
Organizations
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research