Abstract
The retention and extinction of a visual discrimination was examined in BALB/c mice. The mice were trained to perform a go/no-go discrimination task in parallel runways. Initial training resulted in an intermediate level of performance. Testing consisted of an additional session using either retention (Experiment 1) or extinction (Experiment 2) at one of five time intervals between 1 and 30 days. It was found in Experiment 1 that forgetting progressively increased over intervals of between 14 and 30 days. In Experiment 2, extinction testing induced more impairment of performance, so that forgetting occurred earlier relative to retention testing in Experiment 1. However, in both experiments, the measure of performance by a discrimination ratio revealed the same amount of forgetting when the training-test interval was 30 days. These results define the forgetting curve for such a discrimination by mice. They are discussed in terms of possible factors involved in forgetting.
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Alescio-Lautier, B., Soumireu-Mourat, B. Comparison of retention and extinction of a visual discrimination as an index of forgetting in mice. Animal Learning & Behavior 14, 197–204 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200056
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03200056