Morris Water Maze Rat Observation Report

The theory being described is operational which was based on how learning can affect the latency of the rats. This theory was measured through the Morris Water maze and the video monitor. Also, the number of annulus crossing showed the operational definition of persistence. Kim and colleagues selected female and male rats from a brewer. The independent variable was the diet of the rat’s mother’s. The dependent variable was the latency for locating the platform. Group PF and C were the controls. The rats were kept in in a climate controlled cage with lighting. All the rats were kept together until the female became pregnant. After that the females were moved to separate cages. Then the female rats were randomly assigned to Groups E, PF and C. Group E was based on a liquid diet with 36 percent of ethanol and included 21 …show more content…
PF group was fed a sugar substance which was substituted for alcohol and this group was fed the same amount of food in grams as group E. Group C pregnant females was fed feed regular rat food and water. The mother’s raised the pup until they reached 22 days old. The pups were considered the participants in the experiment. The experiment also included a visual discrimination task and the Morris Water maze learning task. The Morris water maze was large 180 by 60 v centimeter high tank. The tank was filled to a 22 centimeter with water and nontoxic white paint. The maze included a circular platform and it was opaque because it was 3 to 4 centimeter below the surface. The features of the research room was same throughout the experiment and represented visual cues as guidance. The rat was placed in the maze and swam until the platform was found. Once the platform was found it was considered a treat to the rat’s because they could stop swimming. But the rat couldn’t see the submerged platform which had to be located in