Recombinant DNA technology has facilitated animal models that could be used to investigate candidate gene contributions to acquisition and retention. In practice, researchers focus on genetics or simple behaviors, rarely combining both or investigating genetic contributions to complex behaviors. We investigated inbred C57BL/6 and outbred CF1 mice’s ability to perform single-alternation and double-alternation patterns. C57BL/6 mice performed better, especially on double-alternation patterns. We also observed sex differences in the inbred C57BL/6 strain for the double alternation pattern. This suggests paradigms for investigating complex behaviors can be useful in uncovering strain differences and contributions of candidate genes to learning, retention, and performance.

重组 DNA 技术促进了动物模型的发展，可用于研究候选基因对获取和保留的贡献。在实践中，研究人员专注于遗传学或简单的行为，很少将两者结合或研究遗传对复杂行为的贡献。我们研究了近交 C57BL/6 和远交 CF1 小鼠执行单交替和双交替模式的能力。C57BL/6 小鼠表现更好，尤其是在双交替模式下。我们还观察到双交替模式的近交 C57BL/6 菌株的性别差异。这表明研究复杂行为的范例可用于揭示候选基因对学习、保留和表现的应变差异和贡献。