Question

1. Describe the Morris Water Maze task. What brain area seems to be necessary for a rat to learn to get better at it?

2. Define declarative and procedural Give an example of each. Are they supported by the same brain systems?

3. Describe an operant conditioning paradigm to teach a dog a new trick. How would you go about it? Is this explicit or implicit learning? Why?

Answer 1

Answer 1:

Morris Water Maze task is used to study the psychology and mechanism of spatial learning and memory in rats. The spatial learning involves the learning and remembering locations. This is done in brain by two systems i.e hippocampus, entorhinal cortex and other structures which surrounds them. In Morris Water Maze task the rat is placed in a large circular pool of water and the rat is then required to locate a platform which can be visible to it or invisible. The platform can allow the rat to escape from the pool of water by finding various cues by using spatial memory.