Rats’ auditory working memory tested by continuous non-matching-to-sample performance

Abstract

Rats were trained in a continuous non-matching-to-sample task in order to study the retention of auditory information over a brief delay interval. A 4-sec delay period (retention interval) was imposed between trials. The subjects acquired the task with approximately 1 month of training. Subsequent changes in length of tone presentations and length of the delay period showed that response accuracy decreased with prolongation of the delay period, but did not vary as a function of tone duration. This suggests that the decrement of response accuracy with increases in delay period was due to memory decay, not to prolongation of the interval between response opportunities. Continuous non-matching-to-sample may be a useful paradigm for studying working memory, and some potential applications of the procedure are discussed. © 1987, Psychonomic Society, Inc.. All rights reserved.