Complex and delayed discriminations: automated repeated measures techniques

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on automated repeated measures techniques for complex and delayed discriminations. Automated techniques for studying drug interactions with free operant behavior have played a central role in behavioral pharmacology since the 1950s. However, these techniques have not been widely used to study the pharmacology and neurobiology of learning and memory in experimental animals. This may be attributable to the availability of a number of alternative paradigms employing mazes and related kinds of apparatus that are inexpensive, require relatively little training and which historically, have been associated with cognitive interpretations of animal behavior. The chapter presents the concepts related to delayed discrimination or working memory tasks. It reviews the procedures designed to provide repeated measures of acquisition behavior. For both working memory and repeated acquisition tasks, the chapter describes the possible test paradigms and discusses their advantages and disadvantages, focusing on the tasks used with rats, but including key variants used with primates, avians, or other species. It also presents logistical and practical considerations involved in the experimental design, training of subjects and conduct of drug studies. The chapter discusses the problems and methods for data analysis and interpretation of results.