Spontaneous alternation in Mesocricetus auratus: Age differences

Abstract

The spontaneous alternation performances of three groups of hamsters. 20. 50. and 150 days old. were compared. A positive association was found between age and rate of alternation. These findings were interpreted as additional evidence of the relationship between the ability of an animal to acquire and retain information and the rate at which it alternates. It was tentatively suggested that the apparent differences in alternation rates of hamsters. ferrets. and rats could reflect species differences ill learning and remembering.Given successive trials in a T or a Y maze a rat will typically alternate responses; that is, it will enter one arm of the maze on the initial trial and the alternative on the second. This phenomenon, termed "spontaneous alternation," has been observed in the rat (Dember & Fowler, 1958), the marsupial possum (Tilley et aI, 1966), the ferret (Hughes, 1965), and the human (Schultz, 1964). Spontaneous alternation is not typical for submammalian animals; however, a similar type of behavior, "delayed compensatory responding" (Dingle, 1965) has been observed in several of these species (Hayes & Warren, 1963;Dingle, 1964Dingle, , 1965 Kupfermann, 1966), Pharmacological (Parkes, 1965, developmental (Kirkby & Kirkby, 1968), and lesion studies (Kirkby et aI, 1967) have indicated a close relationship between the ability of an animal to acquire and retain information and the rate at which it spontaneously alternates. Similarly, recent findings have suggested that delayed compensatory responding is dependent upon learning and memory processes (Dingle, 1964(Dingle, , 1965 Kupfermann, 1966).In an investigation of the association between age and spontaneous alternation in the rat, it was found that alternation performance developed with maturity (Kirkby, 1967). The purpose of the present study was to confirm and extend these findings with another species of rodent, the golden hamster. It was predicted that in the hamster, as in the rat, spontaneous alternation would increase as a function of maturation. SubjectsThe Ss, 75 male hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) from the University of Oregon Biology Colony, were tested in three groups, each of 25. At the time of testing the Ss in each group were respectively 20, 50, and 150 days old. All Ss were maintained in group cages with free access to food and water. ApparatusThe apparatus were three T mazes proportioned to the sizes of the Ss. The maze for the 20-day-old group had arms 24 cm long, 10 cm deep, and 7.5 em wide. The 50-day-old Ss were tested in a maze with arms Psychon. Sci.. \968, Vol. \0 (7) 30 cm long, 12.5 cm deep, and 10 cm wide, and the 150-day-old Ss in a maze with arms 45 cm long, 15 cm deep, and 15 cm wide, The apparatus were pa.inted grey and were roofed with wire mesh lids. In each case the stem of the T, serving as a startbox, was separated from the rest of the apparatus by a guillotine door. ProcedureThe maze was placed on a table so that the choice point was directly below a shaded, 100 W electric light. Each S was given two trials. A tri...

Alternation behavior of children in a cross-maze

“…Thus, time is relatively uninformative in studies of children's alternation behavior in a cross-maze. DISCU8SION The increased rate of alternation obtained with Ss who started from the same start position on each of two trials is in agreement with the results from studies with human Ss performing other tasks (Manley & Miller, 1968;Miller, Tu, Moffat, & Manley, 1969) and from studies with animals (Goodrick, 1967;Hughes, 1968a, b;Kirkby & Lackey, 1968;Williams, Carr, & Peterson, 1966). It appears that the rate of alternation increases linearly over ages 3 to 6, as shown in the present study.…”

“…Kirkby & Lackey (1968) found an increasing rate of alternation in 20-, 50-and 150-day-old male hamsters. The youngest animals alternated randomly, as did young children in the present study.…”

Ontogenetic aspects of central cholinergic involvement in spontaneous alternation behavior

“…Furthermore this tendency would be expected to give way, via a stage of chance responding, to a tendency to alternate responses as maturity approached. Previous studies with rats, (Kirkby, 1967) and hamsters, (Kirkby & Lackey, 1968) have partialIy demonstrated such a progression in that young animals responded at chance levels, whereas older animals alternated significantly. In these studies very young animals were not tested.…”

The relevance of memory, arousal, and cue factors to developmental changes in spontaneous alternation by rats

“…A marked developmental trend in spontaneous alternation (SA) behavior has been observed in several species, including rats (Kirkby, 1967), hamsters (Kirkby & Lackey, 1968), and humans (Pate & Bell, 1971). In a recent set of studies Egger, Livesey, and Dawson (1973) found that with rats, rates of alternation of selected goal arms on 2 trials in a T-maze increased from approximately 20% at 15-16 days of age to around 90% at 100 days, paralleling the developing influence of drugs such as scopolamine and physostigmine which disrupt or facilitate alternation through the manipulation of acetylcholine levels in the brain.…”