Non Colored T-Mazes

a) Lucon-Xiccato and Bisazza investigated whether guppies could complete complex T-mazes that rodents and humans can solve. Lucon-Xiccato et al. specifically compared maze performance of male and female guppies. Additionally, the researchers manipulated the appearance of the T-junctions by either making them all identical or changing each of their colors to test whether this affected learning and performance. The researchers also accounted for a domestication effect on the guppies’ maze performance. Lucon-Xiccato et al. predicted that the male guppies would perform better than female guppies. They also predicted that changing the color of each T-junction would improve the guppies’ ability on the maze task, since it would help them recall where they were in the maze.

Experiment 1 consisted of domesticated guppies (32 females and 32 males) which were divided into two conditions (non-colored T-mazes or colored T-mazes). Experiment 2 was used as a control to test if domestication affects maze performance and it consisted of 16 non-domesticated guppies (8 males and 8 females) tested under non-colored conditions. The maze consisted of a water-filled apparatus with a start chamber, multiple T-junctions, and an exit chamber. The experimenters conducted 30 trials over the course of 5 days and only one subject was allowed into the maze at a time. The researchers scored if the subject went through the correct arm at the start of the maze and measured how long it took to solve the maze (30 minutes maximum). A social reward and a small amount of food was given to each guppy after completing the