SEX-DIFFERENCES IN RADIAL MAZE PERFORMANCE - INFLUENCE OF REARING ENVIRONMENT AND ROOM CUES

There have been conflicting reports on whether or not male rats outper form females in the radial arm maze. Three factors - rearing environme nt, room cues, and whether all of the maze arms are baited with food - may differentially influence the performance of male and female rats. In the present experiment, Littermate male and female hooded rats wer e reared either in same-sex groups in a complex environment or alone i n standard cages for 30 days after weaning. The rats were then trained for 24 days in a partially baited 17-arm radial maze with either a mi nimum of room cues or a large number of cues. Regardless of rearing co ndition or number of cues, males made fewer errors (baited and unbaite d) than did females, and both sexes reared in the complex environments made fewer errors (baited and unbaited) than did the rats reared alon e.