Performance
Performance is typically measured by number of errors the rodent makes, i.e. the number of times it pokes its nose into a hole that does not contain the escape box. The rate of decline in the number of errors per trial can be calculated to represent a learning curve. Other performance values can also be measured, such as path length to the escape box, with a shorter path indicating fewer errors. Additionally, the strategy used by each rodent can be scored as random (randomly checking each hole), systematic (checking each hole in a pattern) or spatial (direct movement to the hole with the drop box).
Due to the spatial nature of the Barnes Maze, damage to the hippocampus leads to deficits in performance of the task. An experiment done on Degu, a specific rodent species, showed that there can be gender differences in performance on the Barnes Maze. During the task training where encoding would occur, females used more frequently a spatial strategy, while males preferably applied either serial, random or opposite strategies. In addition, it was noted that the spatial retention ability of female rats was largely dependent on the phase of their estrus cycle. . The differences between male and females encoding period but not during the storage, indicating that acquisition and consolidation are differently influenced by gender in the Degu species.
Read more about this topic: Barnes Maze
Famous quotes containing the word performance:
“So long as the source of our identity is external—vested in how others judge our performance at work, or how others judge our children’s performance, or how much money we make—we will find ourselves hopelessly flawed, forever short of the ideal.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“The audience is the most revered member of the theater. Without an audience there is no theater. Every technique learned by the actor, every curtain, every flat on the stage, every careful analysis by the director, every coordinated scene, is for the enjoyment of the audience. They are our guests, our evaluators, and the last spoke in the wheel which can then begin to roll. They make the performance meaningful.”
—Viola Spolin (b. 1911)
“The child to be concerned about is the one who is actively unhappy, [in school].... In the long run, a child’s emotional development has a far greater impact on his life than his school performance or the curriculum’s richness, so it is wise to do everything possible to change a situation in which a child is suffering excessively.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)