Effects of age on learning and retention of an avoidance response in rats.

Abstract

Groups of 5 male and 5 female rats 25, 50, and 100 days old were trained to criteria of 0, 2, or 10 conditioned avoidance responses (CAR), then extinguished and retrained to a criterion of 10 CARs after 0, 50, or 100 days delay. 25-day-old Ss learned more slowly than 100-day-old Ss. Extinction data indicated retention only in 0 delay groups. Criterion 0 groups were inferior to Criterion 2 and 10 groups in relearning indicating some retention from original learning for the latter 2 groups. Relearning was a function of age only for the 0 delay condition, 25-day-old Ss being inferior to both 50- and 100-day-old Ss.