Research Article

Intertrial interval manipulations and passive avoidance retention in young Long-Evans hooded rats

  1. Charles F. Hinderliter1,*,
  2. David C. Riccio2

Article first published online: 24 SEP 2002

DOI: 10.1002/dev.10068

Issue

Developmental Psychobiology

Developmental Psychobiology

Volume 41, Issue 3, pages 197–204, 2002

Additional Information

How to Cite

Hinderliter, C. F. and Riccio, D. C. (2002), Intertrial interval manipulations and passive avoidance retention in young Long-Evans hooded rats. Dev. Psychobiol., 41: 197–204. doi: 10.1002/dev.10068

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Johnstown, PA 15904

  2. 2

    Department of Psychology, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242

*Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, at Johnstown, Johnstown, PA 15904.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 24 SEP 2002
  2. Article first published online: 24 SEP 2002
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 17 OCT 2001
  4. Manuscript Received: 27 JUL 2001

Funded by

  • NIMH. Grant Numbers: MH 30223, MH 37535
  • University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

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Keywords:

  • young rats;
  • passive avoidance;
  • intertrial interval;
  • learning;
  • retention;
  • infantile amnesia

Abstract

Results of several studies indicate that young rats generally require more training than do adults to reach comparable criterion levels of passive avoidance behavior. In addition, younger rats generally show poorer retention performance than adults. In the present study, preweanling and weanling Long-Evans rats were given passive avoidance training at intertrial intervals (ITI) of 2 min, 1 hr, or 24 hr until a 600-s criterion was obtained. A 2-week retention test also was given to each subject. Results indicate that ITI had little effect on rate of acquisition or retention. Acquisition and retention performance did improve with age, as is typically reported with other strains of rats. The present results support previous acquisition and retention studies indicating that the ability to acquire and retain a passive avoidance task for weanling and preweanling rats increases with age. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 41: 197–204, 2002. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/dev.10068

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