AGE-DIFFERENCES IN THE LEARNING OF A CONDITIONED VISUAL AVOIDANCE TASK IN MALE HOODED RATS

Young rats have been shown to perform better on a conditioned avoidance task than do older rats. The present study examined how development in rats affected their rate of acquisition of the avoidance task. Male hooded rats, taken 10 days apart in age ranging from 80 days to 200 days, were treated on a visually conditioned avoidance task where the total number of avoidance responses were recorded. The results revealed that rats between 80 and 90 days performed significantly better than did rats between 100 and 150 days, which in turn did better on the avoidance task than did rats between 160 and 200 days of age.