Hippocampus
Study by Williams et al. (1990)
Question: Why are males and females different in acquisition of the radial arm maze? Do these differences reflect the cues that males and females use to solve the task?
Methods:
- similar groups as before: 4 groups: male rats castrated on day 1 (MNC), sham-operated control males (MC), female rats exposed to estrogen from days 1-10 (FNE), and sham-operated control females treated with oil (FC); all groups were gonadectomized
- trained the animals on the radial arm maze until high performance levels were obtained
- they changed either landmark cues, geometry or both and tested the performance of the animals on task
- landmark cues: cues located within or around a maze (table, chair, transport cart); they manipulated these cues by rearranging items or removing them
- geometric cues: shape of room (corners of room); manipulated geometry by enclosing the maze within a black circular arena