Two experiments were conducted with rats. The first study showed that in the T-maze a brightness discrimination learning problem was more difficult than a spatial learning problem, but in a Ross-maze a brightness problem was less difficult than a spatial task. T-maze brightness and Ross-maze spatial tasks were found to be of equal difficulty.
In the second experiment rats were trained either on a brightness or spatial discrimination reversal problem in the Ross-maze. It was found that overtraining facilitated reversal performance in the spatial task but not in the brightness problem. The theoretical implications of these results were discussed.
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