Human and Animal Behavioural Tasks

Question 1

Open-field task

Answer 1

The animal is placed in a large arena and general behaviour is recorded, e.g. number of times it rears, grooms, etc.

Question 2

Functions of the Open-field task

Answer 2

1) comparing normal behaviour with behaviour after intervention
2) measuring stress, e.g. counting the number of droppings or observing thigmotaxis (the rat sticks to the sides)

Question 3

Morris Watermaze

Answer 3

large pool with milky water that hides a platform

Question 4

Functions of the Morris Watermaze

Answer 4

1) testing visual-spatial navigation and orientation

Question 5

Tolman’s maze

Answer 5

cross-shaped maze

Question 6

Functions of the Tolman maze

Answer 6

1) testing spatial navigation
2) procedural memory
3) stimulus-response task (e.g. turning a specific direction based on tune played)

Question 7

Olton’s 8-arm radial maze

Answer 7

arena with 8 arms that have food at the end

Question 8

Functions of the 8-arm radial maze

Answer 8

1) testing higher cognitive function like working memory

Question 9

Barnes maze

Answer 9

board with holes at the side that the animal would want to escape into

Question 10

Functions of the Barnes maze

Answer 10

1) similar to the 8-arm radial maze it tests working memory

Question 11

Object-displacement task

Answer 11

The animal is put into an arena with several objects and is allowed to freely explore with the exploration time being recorded. The experiment is then divided into either spatial or object variation.

Question 12

Functions of the object-displacement task

Answer 12

1) observing exploration and habituation

Question 13

spatial variation

Answer 13

objects are moved to different locations

-> this increases exploration and curiosity for all objects (even if not every object has been moved)

Question 14

object variation

Answer 14

objects are replaced with new ones

-> this increases exploration and renews curiosity for all objects

Question 15

Tests of general intelligence

Answer 15

measuring general IQ, e.g. WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale)

Question 16

Attention tests

Answer 16

Participants perform simple tasks, e.g. counting from 1-20, recite the days of the week backwards, counting down from 100 in 3s, etc.

Question 17

Functions of attention tests

Answer 17

1) requires mental control

2) some tasks require sustained attention

Question 18

Line orientation task

Answer 18

Several lines are displayed with different orientation. Participants must match the lines to those of a bigger image that includes lines with many varying orientations.

Question 19

Rey Complex Figure

Answer 19

Participants must either copy (for cognitive functioning, perception, etc.) or memorise and then recreate (for visual-spatial memory) the figure.

Question 20

Wisconsin card-sorting task

Answer 20

Participants need to determine the strategy or rule that cards match. The examiner then changes the strategies to test participant’s ability to adapt