Université du Québec à Montréal
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Denis Réale
Dany Garant
Patrick Bergeron (Membre, Bishop's University)
Start: 2021-09-01
End: 2025-12-31

Project

Among-individual variation in learning and spatial memory in the eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
Spatial memory is an ecologically important trait, enabling animals to learn and remember where to find food, breeding partners or shelter, and to avoid potentially dangerous sites. This memory should therefore be closely associated with exploratory behavior. However, individuals in the same population vary persistently in their exploration patterns, depending on a trade-off between speed of information acquisition and quality (accuracy) of that information. In this project, we use radial maze test data, repeated over the lifetime of eastern chipmunks, to test the hypothesis that individuals differ in their spatial learning in relation to their exploration profile. In addition, we assess the effects of sex and exploration profile on changes in individuals' maze performance over the lifespan.

Keywords

within-population diversity, exploration, personality, spatial memory, Aging