Animal Behavior Tracking
Mazes, objects and memory
Finding a place
The Morris water maze, the Barnes maze and the dry water maze all ask an animal to find a goal using cues around the room. Tracking gives you latency, path, heading, proximity and strategy.
Noticing something new
Rodents can't resist a novelty. In novel object recognition, a familiar object is swapped for a new one; in object placement, one is simply moved. A discrimination index sums up the preference.
Remembering the last choice
Alternation in the T-maze and Y-maze, and the radial arm maze, test memory for recent decisions.
Mouse or rat?
They swim differently, worry differently and explore differently, and that should shape which test you choose.