Research Proposal
Research Proposal
Research Proposal
Introduction:
The purpose of this research is to test whether the guinea pig or the hamster is better
at learning and retaining information after the given training sessions held.
Hypothesis:
If guinea pigs and hamsters were put into a maze in order to test how they remember,
forget, and running the maze perfectly, then the hamster would learn faster, and Guinea Pigs
would be harder to teach but would forget harder and remember better as well.
Research questions:
Which animal has better ability to learn/memorize the taught information between the
- How much time do guinea pig and the hamster take to learn the given
information? ( The time that the guinea pig and hamster would be using to run the
maze will be due to the average of other general researches that state the amount of
time that both rodents should be given to be able to learn some new informations. The
information needed for these animals to learn as new information would be the
track design and pathways [the maze]). In this experiment, there would be certain
time limits that the subjects should not exceed to complete the maze. The time that the
subjects spent in the maze would be tracked in a data table and used to represent their
left alone with the same amount of time in a daily basis to forget the information that
it had been taught. After this process, it would be going through the stage of training
information taught? (This is the process where the subjects would be given some
amount of time to recover the information that it had forgotten. To make the data
accurate, there would be a specific time set up which is expected that both subjects
would be able to recover the information that it has forgotten within those amount of
time. However, time would be extended if they are not successful with the task taught
previously.)
- How much time or how many time does it take for each of the specimens to
run the maze without an error? ( During this process, there would be a member
counting the errors that the subject had done. This data would be graphed and
compared to the time that it spent in the learning and recovering stage.)
The procedure would proceed to run in a cycle, this would be more than enough information
- How accurate can these specimens complete the maze? (The errors collected
from each practice in track will be used as one of the data information. This would be
the last experiment held and would only have a certain amount of time for the two
specimens to run. If there is an error, this error would also be recorded for the final
result.)
The topic of study related to the previous question is how the animals learn and act. Besides
this, it also shows the reward pathway of the animal from using treat to help animal
remember the maze. In this case, classical conditioning will be implemented and studied
using the subjects provided. Furthermore, treats would be arranged in a way that help lead or
guide the subjects out of the maze during the first few times of training and there would be a
huge treat at the end of the maze. This is to help the subjects adapt to the maze environment
without having potential occurrence of stress, which would also develop thinking patterns
that would be rewarded with treats. Since snacks would have an impact on how they behave,
the potential for the specimens to finish up the maze as perfectly as they can would be
boosted.
Why this is important research, what is its significance, and why should someone reading the
This is an important research because it will help other researchers in the future. By
doing this, it is possible to observe how the brain of both organisms function and how they
react to variables. Besides this, the organisms in the same family will be compared and
contrasted in order to find the difference. Aside from this, researchers might be able to
compare the data that we have collected to human beings, due to the fact that all of them are
mammals. Future researchers are able to use the results the report gained in order to compare
it with ones own, conclude or discover something new about other related organisms. If
datas that have been collected in both organisms are similar, scientists might be able to
conclude that mammals learning development are fairly similar. On the other hand, if datas
turn out to be different, it would lead to a conclusion of which organisms might have different
brain functions, therefore indicating that the need for the variety of methods used for different
variables would be necessary potential results. The evaluation starting from the normal
rodents experiments using those of the information as the guideline to see the important
factors that would affect the rodents to learn in their best ability.
Background information:
People, as well as animals, have selective attention, this means that they choose which
things are important and which things they can forget or pay the least attention to. However,
before remembering even happens, the animal must notice a stimulus first. They then
encode the information from their sensory memory (what you see, touch, taste, hear, smell)
into their short term memory and then decides whether or not it is something that is important
enough to store in the long term memory which could be anything that is necessary or vital
information, such as where to find food, shelter, clothing, etc. Anything that is stored in the
long term memory must be pulled out of the memory banks by what scientists call
Retrieval. But since the memory isnt a straight line where one leads to two and so on, and
are more like an interconnected webs of associations, Retrieval Cues are needed to help
remember. Theyre memories that are associated to the targeted memory and assists the
animal in remembering the memory. Priming is what scientists call this non-conscious
activation of associations between memories. In addition, the emotion and state of the
organism will affect the type of associations theyre priming. For example, if a hamster was
trying to remember a maze, and a mark was made on a section of a maze before the hamster
has to turn right, then the next time when the hamster sees the mark it will have to remember
it has to turn right and if they were having a good time from the food, the next time they run a
maze with a positive mood, theyre more likely to recall that running the maze successfully
The next part about the learning process is how memory loss happens. Which can be
broken down into three ways; storage decay, memory interference (retrieval failure), and
storage failure. Storage decay is when a memory had been left unused for a sufficient amount
of time that it disappears. When an outside stimulus triggers an alteration of the memory
stored, that is called memory interference. Storage failure defines when the memory wasnt
encoded or stored. Hamsters and guinea pigs in this experiment would test these concepts.
Storage decay, or forgetting due to length of time, and whether or not they experience storage
failure, would be tested. If anything, the hamsters not storing anything in time is evidence
that supports the fact that they cant remember in time. Then the Priming would also be
tested on how the hamsters and guinea pigs remember from retrieval cues. (Remembering
The research here is trying to gather evidence to tell which animal between a hamster
and a guinea pig can learn, remember, and relearn (the learning process) more efficiently by
making them run a maze. Understanding the learning process first requires understanding on
how the specimen learns a piece of information(in this case how to run a maze), how long
they're able to retain that information, and how do they relearn something that they have
learned before but have forgotten. The questions here are, how do this animal learn? How
does it forget? How does it remember again? The experiment would record the teaching time,
the relearning time, and the forgetting time of both species and compare them with one
another. That all begs the question, isnt this what all the scientists have been doing all these
years? Studying the ways hamsters and guinea pigs run a maze? Now, the answer to both is
yes, but no one has ever done both of the animals simultaneously before. In this experiment,
Literature Review
In order to evaluate which types of cages would suit the hamster most, researches
Management (Gonder & Laber, 2007), there are various factors that would affect the physical
and mental health of rodents. Factors such as; cage space had surprisingly affect the mortality
rate of rodents. Many conducted researches had proven that rodents living in small spaces
tend to survive more, increase their weights, and turns out to be less aggressive. Furthermore,
the environmental enrichment also had an impact towards rodents. Rodents that were placed
in cages with rigid shelter had demonstrated an increase in aggression and a decrease in
weight, which were factors that determine stress. The journal includes various of results from
different experiments. Some of which tested the rodents behavior, brain development, stress
These experiments presented shows the exact same result that small cages are better
for rodents, although various researches had proven that the belief of rodents inhabiting in
small cages performed an outstanding result, was in fact inaccurate. In other research
experiments, it had been proven that rodents performed better in large cages since they have
more space to run around and relax. This results them to relieve against stress and gain
happiness. On the contrary, this journal states facts that are fairly much in contrast with
others, which is very doubtful to believe. Since the information given in the article could be
biased or shows one sided success, the experiment which proves the doubtful result should
have further experiments to find better and even more accurate results. From the information
stated above, it is critical to find cages that suit the subjects which would be used as an
experimental subject. This is due to the fact that it might have an impact on its learning
behavior which includes forgetting and recovering stage. If animals are not comfortable in the
environment that they are placed in, it would be hard for them to concentrate on the tasks that
Two different studies discuss and analyze the behaviors and memory of mices and rats
gaining results that vary. A journal named Using the Morris Water Maze to Assess Spatial
Learning and Memory in Weanling Mice ( Barnhart, Yang, & Lein, 2015) indicates that
weaning mice develops spatial learning and memory (encoding, storage, and recovering of a
memory), sex differences does not affect how they perform, and training enhances
transcription of genes particularly in the synaptic plasticity (the capability of synapses to
become stronger or weaker over time, responding to increases or decreases in their activity).
The evidence given is that training results in a decrease in escape latency (the time it takes to
find the platform) and spend more time on finding the path to target the quadrant. On another
journal named Assessing Spatial Learning and Memory in Rodents (Vorhees & Williams,
n.d.), they compare morris water maze (MWM) with radial-arm maze (RAM). There are two
types of radial arm maze, one tests on trial-dependent memory while the other tests the
combination of both working and spatial memory. It concludes that by using RAM, rats tend
to gain both spatial and associative aspects which benefits them more than MWM. On the
contrary, RAM takes more time in their process of learning compared to MWM.
To compare, both of these experiments tested the memory of subjects whether which
method will be most effective for them. By this, their results show that the subjects are able
to remember the information that is given to them. Data had been collected and these subjects
are observed various of time before scientists would be analyzing the results.
On the other hand, the result gain from both experiments are different. This might be
due to one experiment using mices while the other uses rats. The development of how the
subjects learn and reacted from different processes varies. The main focus on the first journal
involves what types of learning do mices gain from MWM and the factors that is affected by
it. However, the second journal focuses on which type of mazes benefits the rats more and
how is it different. Furthermore, the first research consider sex as a factor to whether their
learning process of males and females would be different while the other does not. Despite
this fact, the first one tend to emphasizes on how the mices learn and develop its times and
distance while the other concentrate on how much information is memorized by the rats.
experiment. It is able to analyze more information while the other one is only able to analyze
the different learning stages. Although, the other experiment is also useful due to the fact that
it shows the advantages and disadvantages of learning processes and future researchers are
able to use this information and adapt it to their maze that they would be making.
experimented, mazes would be a better option for them since there is only a small amount of
time to conduct the experiment. Radial arm maze would take too long to be implemented on
the subjects and would be hard to test the spatial and associative aspects on them.
Furthermore, since researches have stated that training is the most essential part of a
successful result, the main point that should be focused on future mazes would be this
particular part. Moreover, if their activity affects their memory on the maze both species
List of Materials:
1. Feature board
2. Velcro tape
3. Ruler
4. Scissor
5. Rubber
6. Cutter
7. Paper
8. Camera
9. Pencil
10. Markers
11. Guinea pig (male)
12. Hamster (male)
13. Computer
14. Phone (for timing)
15. Snack (for training)
16. Toys
17. Cage
Timeline
Date Tasks
11th - 14th May 2017 -Get the rodents and materials needed
-Finish the maze
-Create the data table
Methodology:
The given specimens would be having a hard time upon learning about the maze, due
to the fact that specimens would respond with becoming scared or becoming uneasy upon the
given obstacle course that they will be placed in for the experiment. Which this is a natural
response of the specimens due to their natural instinct of encountering unusual environments,
people, pressure or task that theyve never been experienced in, but before putting the
specimens through training, we must first allow them to get used to the trainers then
proceeding towards recognizing that the maze is not a threat for them. As for these two
to adapt towards possible obstacles therefore, inhibit the ability for them to be challenged
upon the maze and tricks that will be taught in the future.
There will be 3 learning evaluation for the rodents, where each of the rodents would
be given with the same starting time, the same starting point which would develop their
Evaluation 1 (Learning)
be taught with new informations. At first, food would be provided along the
correct path of the maze in order for them to learn and remember the path.
Then, before they would start running, a certain time would be set as a
standard in order to determine their ability to learn. After that, subjects would
be running in the maze and both species would be timed and number of errors
would be counted (when they run to a wrong path). These data would be
Evaluation 2 (Forgetting)
their own housing with an exact schedule to prevent the confusion for the
people, to prevent time loss when one of the given trainers are absent.
Evaluation 3 (Recovering)
This part of the evaluation stage is where the specimens would
will be placed at the same position and the same part of the maze, however,
food wont be provided to guide them anymore except the food at the finish
line. Therefore, the rodents will have to recover the path by themselves.The
rodents will be timed from the start to the end while, at the same time, the
error will also be counted. After this stage has been done, they will proceed
back to Evaluation 1.
The maze was designed to facilitate as many variations of mazes as possible with the
least materials needed, which means the maze is capable of redesigning the pathway without
the need to rebuild the whole maze again. Since the time is fixed, the variable maze would
allow us to retest the rodents learning abilities by having the rodents run a different maze
designs, therefore the data collected would be valid, although issues that we might face with
this factor is that the time given for this experiment might run short, which we may not be
able to try out multiple maze trainings. The walls would be made differently for 2 specimens,
the guinea pigs wall would be about 10-12 cm, whilst the hamster would be about 7-8 cm due
to the fact that hamsters will have trouble sniffing out for the treat if the guinea pig becomes
larger, therefore enabling the ability for the hamsters to have the same ratio of wall height
According to the research of Spatial Memory Performances of Aged Rat in the Water
Maze (Drapeau et al., 2003), the study that predicts levels of hippocampal neurogenesis. The
experiment was performed on twenty-three months old rats. These subjects were tested in a
morris water maze, with a diameter of 180 centimeters and 60 centimeters high made opaque
by adding milk powder. Before experiments were conducted, they were trained daily to find
platforms which will lead them out. During their actual tests, they are tracked based on the
time and the distance that they traveled to find the platform using a computerized tracking
system. To collect data, BrdUrd (Sigma) was injected to rats which show that learning
increases the survival rate of newly born cells during their training. However, the entire
mice model of anxiety/ depression (Darcet et al., 2014), mices were placed in a morris water
maze and a barnes maze. Similarly to the previous experiment, mice were to find the
platforms. However, the timing scale is different. If rats are not able to find the platform
within 60 seconds, it would be guided to the platform and the time recorded would be 60
seconds. On the barnes maze, the mices are placed in a clear gray circular platform with 20
equally spaced holes and one target box would be placed underneath a particular hole. It
would not see any holes due to the fact that it would be dark and the mice would have to use
spatial extra cues. They would have 180 seconds and if they are not able to escape, they
would be guided and the time recorded would still be 180 seconds. These trails were recorded
by camera and analyzed by ANY-maze software. Primary latency, latency to escape, primary
errors, and total errors were used to score these mices. This experiment proves that mice
According to a research mentioned previously in the literature review, the Radial arm
maze is like a wheel which has arms coming off from it. The rats would be placed and the
center and foods would be placed on the arms. By this, animals would have to be starved
before they would be place into the maze. Since there are two types, each of them have
different procedures. In the first type, the food would be placed in all arms and rats would be
able to choose which arm they would be going to. From this, if the rats were entering the
same one that they had entered before that would count as an error. However, the problems to
this way are that rat are able to go in a particular way or pattern from going only on left or
right side. As a result, this methodology would not help test the memory of rats, due to the
fact that there are other efficient ways to do so. Therefore, for the second type number of
arms would include food and some would not include food. The rats would be placed in this
maze several time and tested if they are able to remember which ones include food and which
one doesnt. This helps prove whether they have spatial memory.
This experiment here shows the same result as other researches where learning has
proven to increase new cells that would grow in organisms. On the other hand, running an
experiment that shows a null result is not very efficient. Before conducting any experiments
on animals, researchers should collect data from previous labs. By this, they are wasting their
time and harming organisms. As a result, time and distance would be collected to run the
maze. Learning stages would be highly emphasized with the recovering stage being the main
As known in the researches above, there were 3 given methods used for the same
research purpose, which is to find whether there were any intellectual development in
specified time with the given complexity of the distance towards the given goal. With 2 of the
experiments, the factor that that excites the rodents upon all the experiments were the way
out which acts as a trigger that makes the response of how active, how much concentration
they put on to achieve the rewards. Learning and memory impairments in a neuroendocrine
mice model of anxiety/ depression as for both Morris and Barnes methods were used. With
Morris and Barnes method, they were both given the puzzle to find their way out rather
To each of the experiments held, there were several differences that were distinct; age,
species, methods, technology used for the experiments. Starting from the age mentioned on
Spatial Memory Performances of Aged Rat in the Water Maze experiment, they specified
their age limit for the specimens, which in Learning and memory impairments in a
neuroendocrine mice model of anxiety/ depression and in Radial arms experiment none
were mentioned. With the species difference, Spatial Memory Performances of Aged Rat in
the Water Maze with, they were both focusing on the rats intellectual development whilst
focuses on the mices anxiety/depression which would affect the intellectual development as
well as the performance of the mice. Methods that were used comprehend the performance of
the rodents there were 3 distinct experiments taken place: Morris water maze, Barnes maze
and Radial arms. Which Morris water maze clearly states that the importance of water is
needed to make it work with the tracking computerized system, as for Barnes maze the main
focus lies on a plate like form that the mice must find holes underneath them, which this is
tracked by the ANY-maze software programme. Lastly the Radial arm method, focuses only
on how desperate they will be to get the reward which the concept of the method is to starve
the creature instead of giving time for the creature to figure it out.
Both experiments did well in the fact that they didnt conclude anything that the
scientific community didnt prove already through legitimately proven research. The
methodology used is designed with an eye towards minimizing errors caused by humans such
did say that when the rodents dont finish in time, they record it as 60, which would promptly
throw the average off. Another one of experiment #2s mistakes is that they still went on with
the experiment knowing fully that running mazes such as these makes the mice feel stressed.
That is just plain unethical. Nobody should have the right to do that to any creature or
anyone, its just not right to stress an organism for science, no cause would justify putting
animals to such stress. Experiment #1 didnt really do any better, they did what was already
well known, so it didnt actually become anything new. Since theyre using live animals, they
should consider that doing an experiment that doesnt prove anything harms animals for no
purpose at all, and so they should find background information instead of experimenting the
next time. Overall, these two experiments had the same undoing: they unnecessarily inflict
animals with uncomfort be it physical or mental, and it was a thing that could have been
avoided.
Specifically related methods that were used and found as a similarity towards the
methods used for this experiment, which the ideal is to use rewards as similar as the Radial
arms, but allowing the rodents to find their own way to get around the maze, although the
technological adaptation were not possible for this experiment, therefore the need to
substitute the ANY-maze software and computer tracking system with records based on
The materials that will be used to make the maze are composed of feature board and
the velcro tape. These materials were chosen because they are not toxic towards the rodents,
which they would likely eat and bite everything, as well as the fact that feature board is easy
to clean. After extraneous research, it is determined that these materials would be safe if the
animals were to ingest them. On the other hand, the rodents will be very stressful when
theyre moved into a new environment or change their foods. Based on the research done, the
rodents will adjust to their new home after a few days alone, although the toys would
provide additional help in accomplishing this. Smell and voice would help the rodent
As theyre 3 different phases of the experiment, there are different data that needs to
be collected for each phase.
After the subjects are trained and are well prepared, it will be left alone for some period of
time so that it would forget the information that it was taught and trained. There is only 1 data
needed in this stage which is the forgetting time of both rodents which will be controlled
Continuing from the previous stage,when the forgetting time is over, the subjects would now
be placed into the same mazes and made to run it, this is in order to observe how much
information have been loss with time. However, there is a certain time that it is expected to
Since both subjects are from different species, the rates at which they run would differ. if that
is factored in, their must be something else other than time used to calculate the results.
Therefore, the errors made by the subjects would be another factor that would help consider.
However, time could be calculated in order to determine its intelligence. Firstly, the subjects
would be running in a straight line that contains the same length and would be timed.
Secondly, a new unit would be created in order to compare the time that both species run. In
order to calculate this, the time that it takes to complete this run would be divided by the
length of the path. From this, the rate that each species run would be calculated. As a result,
this unit could be used in comparing the time that each species run during the mazes.
Using these 3 stages of evaluation as well as error, the species intelligence would be
determined in a way that does not harm them. For instance, the member counting the errors
Conclusion:
There are 3 stages of our experiment which are learning, forgetting, and recovering.
By collecting the data of each guinea pig and hamster from each stages and compare them at
the end, its intelligence could be determined. The factors that would be used to determine
their intelligence are time, errors, and recovery. These factors will be graphed respectively to
see which subject has made more learning progress, standard deviation and trend lines would
be calculated from the given graph. Moreover, these three factors (the initial time, recovering
time, and errors) might be combined and averaged out in order to make the data more
References
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