Use when
- The hypothesis concerns hippocampal-dependent place learning or navigation.
- The study can control visual, tactile, olfactory, or contextual cues.
- Endpoint choice includes latency, path efficiency, zone preference, or search strategy.
Research Paradigms
Paradigm
Spatial memory paradigms
Spatial memory paradigms test how animals use cues, locations, routes, or contexts to guide behavior.
Decision summary
Use this paradigm family when the research question depends on place learning, navigation strategy, cue use, or memory for a location. The method choice should follow the species, motor capacity, stress tolerance, and endpoint needed.
| Common methods | Morris water maze, Barnes maze, Y-maze, T-maze, radial arm maze. |
|---|---|
| Primary endpoints | Escape latency, path length, probe-zone time, alternation, arm errors. |
| Key controls | Visible-platform, cue visibility, swim speed, habituation, and counterbalancing. |
| Interpretation boundary | Poor performance can reflect memory, motor, vision, motivation, stress, or strategy shifts. |
Do not use when
- Motor impairment or sensory loss would dominate navigation performance.
- The question is simple activity, anxiety-like exploration, or nociception rather than memory.
Caveats
- Water-based paradigms add stress, thermoregulation, and swim-speed constraints.
- Dry-land tasks can be more vulnerable to odor trails and handling history.
- Probe trials and acquisition curves answer different questions and should not be collapsed.
Reporting checklist
- Report apparatus geometry and cue layout.
- State trial schedule, inter-trial interval, and start-position logic.
- Report control trials and exclusion rules.
- Report endpoint definitions and analysis windows.
- Describe whether endpoints reflect acquisition, retention, reversal, or working memory.
References
Morris 1984. Developments of a water-maze procedure for studying spatial learning in the rat.
Foundational water-maze methods paper.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6534419/
Vorhees and Williams 2006. Morris water maze: procedures for assessing spatial and related forms of learning and memory.
Detailed procedural review for spatial memory testing.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16489373/
Related surfaces
Use these related surfaces to move from the scientific method question to the relevant product page, endpoint definition, analysis tool, or adjacent guide.
