Page No.49-64
Saadia Tayyab
Quaid-i-Azzam University, Islamabad
A multi-group experiment was conducted on a sample of 75 male albino rats weighing
155±5 gms, belonging to the age of about three months, in order to investigate the
effect of temperature on memory. The five levels of temperatures taken were 70
C,
150C, 250C, 320C, 380C. A multi-trial active-avoidance task was used. Retention
was tested after 24 hours of the training. Results indicated that higher degrees of
temperature (320C, and 380
C) led to slower acquisition and poor retention of the
task as compared to the moderate level of temperature (250
C). But lower degrees
(70C, 150
C) of temperature did not have any significant negative effect on acquisition
and retention. The results have been interpreted in terms of level of arousal and
attention decrement caused by varied levels of temperature.