The structure of individual differences in Heterogeneous Stock mice across problem types and motivational systems

Abstract

Sixty Heterogeneous Stock (HS) mice received a battery of six problem‐solving tasks and three control procedures. The problem‐solving tasks included Hebb‐Williams, a place learning task conducted in a plus maze, radial maze, a working memory test following the radial maze, a set of detour problems and a visual non‐matching to sample task. The control procedures consisted of land and water activity measures and a light‐dark test. The correlation matrix derived from these tasks did not exhibit positive manifold, that is, positive correlations across all problem‐solving tasks. Principal components analysis reduced the correlation matrix to four components with eigenvalues exceeding 1.0. Instead of the general factor solution common in the study of human problem‐solving, this component structure appeared more congenial to a modular interpretation, with the four components each explaining approximately the same magnitude of matrix variance.

Domain-specific and domain-general learning factors are expressed in genetically heterogeneous CD-1 mice

“…This factor has been interpreted as being analogous to intelligence in humans (Blinkhorn, 2003). Similarly other laboratories have reported results consistent with these findings (Locurto & Caitlin, 1998;Locurto, Fortin, & Sullivan, 2003;Galsworthy, PayaCano, Monleó, & Plomin, 2002;Galsworthy et al, 2005).…”

“…This factor has been interpreted as being analogous to intelligence in humans (Blinkhorn, 2003). Similarly other laboratories have reported results consistent with these findings (Locurto & Caitlin, 1998;Locurto, Fortin, & Sullivan, 2003; Galsworthy, PayaCano, Monleó, & Plomin, 2002;Galsworthy et al, 2005). While human studies of general intelligence do not assess learning per se, studies have shown that the rate of acquisition of a skill is positively correlated with IQ test performance (Ackerman, 1987(Ackerman, , 2005 Jensen, 1987).…”

“…Nevertheless, it is also possible that they all share a spatial component. Indeed several studies have extracted a domain-specific factor from the performance of mice on a set of explicitly spatial tasks (Locurto et al, 1998;Locurto et al, 2003). While the watermaze and win-stay tasks employed here are both explicitly spatial, reinforced alternation, as tested here, is not necessarily a spatial task.…”

Selective attention is a primary determinant of the relationship between working memory and general learning ability in outbred mice

“…Understanding the key factors that underlie all learning may help in designing better treatments for learning disabilities. Our results also provide further support for the existence of common mechanisms that affect all learning systems across species (Locurto and Scalon 1998;Conway et al 2002;Galsworthy et al 2002;Locurto et al 2003;Matzel et al 2003).…”

Individual Differences and Animal Personality

“…Protocols for these arenas are easily automated and can be completed in 5 minutes. Multiple animals can be run currently, thereby allowing a large number of animals to be screened efficiently prior to experimentation (e.g., Crawley, 2000;Locurto, Fortin, & Sullivan, 2003).…”