New apparatus for training the avoidance reaction

A new apparatus for active avoidance training in rats consists of a short, wide runway which can be tilted from a horizontal to vertical position. One half of the electrifiable grid floor is covered by a nonconducting sheet. For brightness (black-white) discrimination training a white walled goal box can be inserted into the runway and shifted from left to right during training. Avoidance training of 24 rats (female Wistar SPF) required 14.1 +/- 2.6 (mean +/- SEM) to-criterion trials (9/10) and was completed in less than 4 min. Brightness discrimination training required 21.3 +/- 2.1 to-criterion trials and the time of training did not exceed 12 min. The retention of the acquired responses was very good in both cases. The main advantage of the apparatus is very rapid acquisition of the one-way and discriminated avoidance without the necessity of manual manipulation of the animal.