A new paradigm to analyze observational learning in rats.

@article{citeulike:1454555, abstract = {A new paradigm of learning was developed through observational training in which rats repeatedly observed companion rats performing different spatial tasks. Observer animals were separately housed in small cages suspended over a water maze tank. They repeatedly observed companion actor rats performing spatial tasks differing according to the experimental requirements. After the observational training, observer animals were or not surgically hemicerebellectomized. This surgical ablation was performed to block any further acquisition of new behavioral strategies during actual performance of swimming task. When cerebellar symptomatology stabilized, observer animals were actually tested in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) task they had previously only observed. The observer rats displayed exploration abilities that closely matched the previously observed behaviors. The results obtained indicate that it is possible to learn complex behavioral strategies by observation using this new protocol. Furthermore, acquisition of the single facets that form the behavioral repertoire can be separately studied.}, address = {Department of Psychology, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy. maria.leggio@uniroma1.it}, author = {Leggio, M. G. and Graziano, A. and Mandolesi, L. and Molinari, M. and Neri, P. and Petrosini, L. }, citeulike-article-id = {1454555}, issn = {1385-299X}, journal = {Brain Res Brain Res Protoc}, keywords = {animal, learning, observation, rat}, month = {October}, number = {2}, pages = {83--90}, posted-at = {2007-07-13 21:23:18}, priority = {2}, title = {A new paradigm to analyze observational learning in rats.}, url = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14613809}, volume = {12}, year = {2003} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:1454555 L3 - citeulike-article-id:1454555 TI - A new paradigm to analyze observational learning in rats. JF - Brain Res Brain Res Protoc VL - 12 IS - 2 SP - 83 EP - 90 AD - Department of Psychology, University of Rome "La Sapienza", Via dei Marsi 78, 00185, Rome, Italy. maria.leggio@uniroma1.it SN - 1385-299X N2 - A new paradigm of learning was developed through observational training in which rats repeatedly observed companion rats performing different spatial tasks. Observer animals were separately housed in small cages suspended over a water maze tank. They repeatedly observed companion actor rats performing spatial tasks differing according to the experimental requirements. After the observational training, observer animals were or not surgically hemicerebellectomized. This surgical ablation was performed to block any further acquisition of new behavioral strategies during actual performance of swimming task. When cerebellar symptomatology stabilized, observer animals were actually tested in the Morris Water Maze (MWM) task they had previously only observed. The observer rats displayed exploration abilities that closely matched the previously observed behaviors. The results obtained indicate that it is possible to learn complex behavioral strategies by observation using this new protocol. Furthermore, acquisition of the single facets that form the behavioral repertoire can be separately studied. KW - animal KW - learning KW - observation KW - rat AU - Leggio, MG AU - Graziano, A AU - Mandolesi, L AU - Molinari, M AU - Neri, P AU - Petrosini, L PY - 2003/10// UR - http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14613809 ER -