Research on the neural and cognitive basis of spatial navigation over the last 30 years has been largely guided by cognitive map theory and many of the studies have used a standardized procedure in a single task, the Morris Water Maze (MWM). Although this theory proposes that acquisition of place knowledge should be very rapid, little evidence has been provided to support this point. The present study investigates the possibility that a new procedure for measuring place knowledge in the MWM will show that place learning is faster than previously shown. In a virtual MWM with a fixed goal location, participants were given pairs of standard learning trials plus new explicit probe trials in which they were directed to go to where they found the goal on the immediately preceding trial. The distance between their estimate and the actual location was measured as “Place Error”. Results indicated that Place Errors were surprisingly small after just one learning trial and were equivalent for females and males. These findings provide new evidence for the fast learning proposed by cognitive map theory and demonstrate the value of this new method for measuring place learning. / Graduate

A computerized virtual version of the Morris water maze (vMWM) was used to assess human gender differences in spatial working memory. In Experiment 1, the release point and platform location was changed on every other trial for 20 trials. Men had significantly reduced acquisition latencies and more accurate heading errors on the first daily trial compared to women. In Experiment 2, the release point and platform location was changed every fourth trial for 20 trials. Men had significantly shorter acquisition latencies and path lengths than women. Experiment 3 was identical to Experiment 2, except that environmental cues were changed throughout testing. Men had significantly shorter acquisition latencies and path lengths than did the women. These studies are the first to demonstrate significant gender differences in a spatial working memory version of the vMWM.