Music, mice and maze learning

[kablueit at hotmail.com]

Hello everyone,
I am currently doing a high school project on the effect of music on the
learning ability of mice. I am using the theory of maze learning to test
for the differences in the learning ability of mice, which means I have
to put the mice through a maze and record the time it takes to complete
the maze, then compare the times between different mice groups. However,
I do not know much of this maze learning theory, and have a few
problems:

1)The mice just move randomly in the maze. How do I ensure that it wants
to get to the maze exit in the shortest possible time?

My idea is to "starve" the mice for one day, then during testing on the
next day, feed it when it reaches the maze exit. Is it correct to say
that because it is hungry and needs food, it would try to complete the
maze in the shortest time possible? Unfortunately, I do not know much of
mice either, so:

2)How long can mice go without food? What are their feeding habits? How
much food does a mouse need within a specific period of time?

3)How do I ensure that the mice do not starve to death, if I am to feed
them only after they go through the maze (which means at other times
they have no food at all)? Can a mouse eat its required amount of food
for the day in just one "meal"? Or is there any other better way to do
this?

4)Is it true that if mice navigate through a maze, they follow the scent
left behind by other mice, if any? (after all, I am conducting the
experiment on more than one mouse). If so, how do I prevent this?

5)Are there any other things to take note of?

I apologize for the length of my message, but I would greatly appreciate
it if anybody could answer any of my questions.

Edmund Chong


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