The Effects of Social Interaction and Social Isolation and Handling on Male and Female Sprague-Dawley Rats When Learning to Navigate a Multiple T-Maze

Adamson, Ashley

The Effects of Social Interaction and Social Isolation and Handling on Male and Female Sprague-Dawley Rats When Learning to Navigate a Multiple T-Maze

Persistent URL

http://hdl.handle.net/10456/19606

Author(s)

Adamson, Ashley

Date Issued

December 20, 2011

Abstract

Many studies have been conducted on what effects isolation has on the body and on ability to perform tasks, but there has not been much work done concerning how to overcome the negative effects of isolation. Nor has there been much research conducted on how to improve learning through social interaction methods. The purpose of Experiment 1 was not only to examine the effects of isolation and interaction, but also to see how to overcome the negative effects of isolation while enhancing the positive effects of social interaction. There was a handling component involved in this study in an attempt to simulate interaction with isolated and grouped rats. The main purpose of Experiment 2 was to see which rats retained the learned behavior after a short period of time had passed. Only one rat was tested in each condition. There were eight total conditions. All rats were housed in the same colony and all rats were placed in their condition for ten days prior to testing. Each rat was also allowed two days to habituate to the maze so as to reduce the chance of this novel environment impacting results. Latency and number of errors were recorded for each rat. Results showed that while handled isolated rats met criteria the fastest in Experiment 1, handled grouped rats performed better error and latency wise. In Experiment 2, isolated rats demonstrated the best performance. Possible reasons for the results, limitations of the studies, and future research questions are considered.

First Reader(s)

Clark, Rodney D.