Sex differences in spatial ability and activity in two vole species (Microtus ochrogaster and M. pennsylvanicus)

The hypothesis that sex differences in maze learning result from sex differences in activity was tested with wild-caught prairie (Microtus ochrogaster) and meadow (M. pennsylvanicus) voles. For 38 voles error production and activity were simultaneously measured in a series of 7 symmetrical mazes. Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAS) examined species, sex, maze, and interaction effects for 3 dependent variables: errors, activity, and errors/activity. The pattern of significant effects was very different for the errors and activity ANOVAS, which suggests that differential activity cannot explain differential error rates. In contrast, the pattern of effects was very similar for errors and errors/activity ANOVAS, which suggests that controls for activity do not remove differences in error production. These results fail to support the activity hypothesis.