M.A. Theses

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Effects of motives, volunteer role identity and sense of community on sustained volunteering
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Akman, Petek.; Köksal, Falih.
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of volunteer motives, volunteer role identity, sense of community, social responsibility and satisfaction with volunteering experience on length of volunteering and amount of time spent volunteering. 294 volunteers of Turkish Association of Education Volunteers (TEGV) participated in the study. Sense of community was found to be the only predictor of length of volunteering and none of the variables predicted amount of time spent volunteering in TEGV. Additional analyses pointed out that understanding and protective motivations, sense of community and social responsibility were determinants of volunteer role identity whereas enhancement motivation and sense of community were the only variables predicting satisfaction with volunteering experience. Overall, results showed that sense of community decreased with duration of volunteering and strength of volunteer role identity was related to self-oriented motivations, shaped by a general tendency to help others and feelings of belonging to the group. In addition, TEGV volunteers felt more satisfied if they volunteered for personal development and to enhance self-esteem, and felt stronger sense of community in TEGV. The present study is believed to contribute to volunteering literature by including sense of community and social responsibility to the study and emphasizing the effect of the type of non-governmental organization on volunteering experience. Besides, the study is one of the few studies attempting to provide a profile of Turkish volunteers and to determine the factors underlying their volunteering behaviors.
Gender roles, ethics of care and social dominance orientation: a feminine view on hierarchy
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Bayram, Fatma Nur.; Köksal, Falih.
The present study is an investigation of the relationships between biological sex, socially acquired gender schemas, adoption of particular ethical paradigms (ethics of care vs. ethics of justice), and the interplay between these variables as they relate to attitudes towards hierarchy (social dominance orientation). Two samples; one from Istanbul (61 female, 41 male), and the other one from Çanakkale (61 female, 51 male) were recruited for the study. In addition to a demographic data sheet, Moral Orientation Scale Using Childhood Dilemmas, (Yacker and Weinberg, 1990), Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1981), and Social Dominance Orientation Scale-6 (Pratto et al., 1994) are utilized. Sex was found to have significant main effects on both gender roles and social dominance orientation (SDO). Males were higher than females in masculinity, and females were higher than males in femininity. Males were also higher than females on SDO. Participants from Çanakkale were higher both on masculinity and femininity than their Istanbul counterparts. For the Istanbul sample, ethics of care was positively correlated with femininity for males, and negatively correlated with masculinity for females. No such correlations were found for the Çanakkale sample. The results also revealed a negative correlation between femininity and social dominance orientation. The implications of the findings are discussed by bringing together the theoretical frameworks of Social Dominance Theory (Sidanius and Pratto, 1999), Gender Schema Theory (Bem, 1974), and Ethics of Care (Gilligan, 1981).
Characteristics of self-consistent and self-discrepant autobiographical memories
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Erdoğan, Ahu.; Tekcan, Ali İ.
Although the relationship between self and autobiographical memory has been examined in the previous literature, the nature of self-consistent and self-discrepant memories has not been explored. The purpose of the present study was to examine self-consistent and self-discrepant autobiographical memories in terms of memory characteristics. Forty seven participants reported one self-consistent and one self-discrepant memory and completed the Turkish version of the Memory Experiences Questionnaire, which measures aspects of participants’ phenomenological experiences at retrieval, for each. Results revealed that self-consistent memories were more vivid and coherent, involved more sensory details, were closer to the self concept, more positively valenced and remembered more from a first person’s (field) perspective than self-discrepant memories. The two types of memories did not differ in terms of the characteristics of emotional intensity, accessibility, sharing and time clarity. Also both memories were highly vivid, coherent, had high emotional intensity and sensory details, were accessible, had time clarity and were not shared. The findings indicate that although the consistency of memories with the self concept provides them with a privileged condition over self-discrepant memories in many aspects, self-discrepant memories may also benefit from these aspects just by being related to the self, even if this relationship is in terms of discrepancy.|Key words: autobiographical memory, self, self-consistent memory, self-discrepant memory
Anatomy of antidepressant effect of light: the role of the BNST lesions
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Avlar, Billur.; Canbeyli, Reşit.
The aim of the present study was to shed light on the anatomy of antidepressant effect of bright light therapy. In line with this, lesions of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis (BNST) which is implicated as an important relay area in mediating stress related circuitry in the brain, or sham operations were done in male Wistar rats. Nine weeks later, a single 10 min, 200 watt, 1350 lux bright light stimulus was administered at ZT21 (04:00) to lesioned (LL) or sham operated rats (SL). Control group animals; either lesioned (LC) or sham operated (SC) did not receive light stimulus. Behavioral despair was assessed by consecutive forced swim tests. The results replicated the aggravation of the immobility behavior in LC group and demonstrated an ameliorative effect of the light even in the presence of the BNST lesion (LL). These findings suggest that the BNST lesions confined to mostly the medial division do not have an integral role in mediating the antidepressant effects of light.
Factors underlying peer acceptance: gender, age and social skills
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Eğercioğlu, Nurçin.; Çorapçı, Feyza.
The aim of the present study is threefold: first, to assess the psychometric structure of Social Skills Rating System-Student form (Gresham & Elliot, 1990) in a sample of Turkish students from third through eighth grades; second, to test age and sex-related differences in same sex preference (gender cleavage) so as to determine developmental trajectories in this tendency for boys and girls; and lastly, to examine the effects of gender and age on the relationship between peer acceptance and social skills. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients for the elementary and the secondary scale were .86 and .89, respectively. In line with Gresham and Elliot (1991), cooperativeness, self control, assertiveness and empathy factors were found for the secondary level; the same factors, except for empathy, were also found for the elementary level. Same-sex preference was found for both the elementary and the secondary boys and girls. Girls’ social skills scores were higher than those of boys except for assertiveness at the secondary level. The impact of cooperativeness on peer acceptance emerged for the elementary level whereas assertiveness, self control and empathy gained significance for the secondary level. Boys’ cooperativeness and self control was related to peer acceptance, particularly among girls at the elementary level whereas boys’ assertiveness and empathy was crucial for peer acceptance by secondary level students.
Differential effects of photic stimulation of different wavelengths on behavioral despair in male and female wistar rats
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) İyilikçi, Onur.; Canbeyli, Reşit.
There is ample evidence in both humans and animals that light therapy has ameliorative effect on depression and behavioral despair. However, there is a paucity of studies investigating the mechanism of light treatment using animal models of depression. The present study therefore investigated the effects of light stimulation of different wavelengths presented in the late dark phase of an L/D lighting cycle on behavioral despair. Adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to a control and two experimental groups (n=8 for each). Animals were exposed to a 10-min pulse in the blue or red region of the visible spectrum, late in the dark phase of the L/D cycle (0400 h) at approximately 1300 lux. This manipulation was followed by forced swim test (FST) procedure starting from the very next day. Moreover, light induced c-Fos immunoreactivity in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) had been investigated to assess the subdivisions involved in the process. Results of the present study indicated that a short pulse of blue light has ameliorative effect for male rats, but not for female rats. Moreover, blue and red light administration aggrandized c-Fos immunoreactivity in the ventrolateral region of the SCN.
Feeling of knowing, verb processing and executive functions in non-demented Parkinson's disease patients
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Baran, Bengi.; Tekcan, Ali İ.
The aim of this present study was to explore whether feeling-of-knowing (FOK) judgments are related with executive functioning of the frontal lobes in non-demented Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients and to compare noun versus verb processing at three different levels (memory, metamemory and word generation). It was predicted that PD patients would be impaired in episodic memory and metamemory and they would perform worse for verb targets than nouns. An episodic task of paired associate learning for 32 word pairs was used in this study. It was found that PD patients were impaired in recall and recognition as compared to controls. Only the PD group performed worse on verb recognition implying an episodic memory deficit for verbs as a lexical category. Accuracy of FOK judgments was not above the chance level implying that metamemory monitoring is significantly impaired in this patient population. To explore the relationship between FOK accuracy and executive functions, two tests of executive functioning were used: Verbal fluency (semantic, lexical and action fluency) and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). PD patients were impaired in all tests of verbal fluency but magnitude of difference was greater for the action fluency test which supports existing literature that verb generation tasks are especially sensitive to PD related cognitive changes. For the PD group neither WCST nor verbal fluency composite scores significantly correlated with FOK accuracy measures. However for healthy controls, WCST performance is a strong predictor of FOK accuracy.
Growing up in chronic poverty: a qualitative look at its impacts on children
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Yaşa, Yeşim.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.
The study aimed to explore the distress and happiness areas and coping strategies of children growing up in chronic poverty through their own voices in order to have a more complete understanding of the effects of poverty on children. Ten qualitative in-depth interviews were realized with 11-12-year-old children, whose families migrated to Istanbul after 1990s, and were living in Tarlabaşı. The data was analyzed using Grounded Theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). The results indicated that while several aspects of family relationships, friendships, schools and neighborhoods were sources of troubling areas in the children’s lives; other aspects of the same themes were the sources of happiness as well as support in helping to diminish the impact of disadvantage on their well-being. In response to varied adversities in their lives, children were found to more often use emotion-focused coping strategies. Some children also employed problem-focused strategies. The children who more often used problem-focused strategies had more supportive relations and did not suffer from severe familial problems. The emergent themes revealed that there were variations in children’s experiences of social and material deprivations, problems and coping ways. This suggested that several mediating factors such as parent-child communication, family’s social support network, extended family and communication with peers influenced the way the children experienced the context they were growing up. Hence, the interaction of mediating factors, personal experiences and coping strategies seems to determine the impact of poverty on children’s lives.
Women in urban poverty: qualitative look at coping strategies
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Tilki, Makbule Evrem.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.
This study aimed to conduct a qualitative research on the problems and coping strategies of the women living in urban poverty. Ten Kurdish women (20-35 years old) who lived in Tarlabaşı; one of the inner city slums of Istanbul, were interviewed and the data was analyzed using Grounded Theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). The results showed that the women were faced with emotional distress related with deep poverty conditions and adaptation problems related with involuntary migration. The emergent themes also depicted the way they fell outside the social life as a result of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds as well as gender roles that they grow up in. Related with the lack of personal and social resources, they used emotional coping strategies; the ones who could benefit from both emotional and problem focused coping strategies were the ones who had the chance to reach support mechanisms that enriched their resilience capacities.
Self and conformity: the role of socio-economic status, values and socialization patterns
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Baydarol, Özde.; Ataca, Bilge.
The study examined the role of self on conformity together with socioeconomic status, values, and parents' traditional family values in Turkish culture. A total of 202 students at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey participated in the study. The findings showed that there was a significant effect of self types on endorsement of confomity. Individuals with heteronomous - related self endorsed conformity more than those with autonomous related and autonomous - separate selves. Individuals' value priorities also influenced their endorsement of conformity. Those who valued confomity, security and tradition more endorsed conformity behavior more. However, there was no significant effect of traditional family values on conformity. The present study also revealed significant relationships among parents' traditional family values, individuals' socioeconomic status, value priorities, and self types. No significant relationship was found between the variables and stimulation as a value priority.
The relationship between perceived child-rearing attitudes, ego-strength, and socio-economic-status
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Science and Engineering, 1983., 1983.) Erbeş, Nazlı.; Yavuzer, Halide Sevim,
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between SES and ego strength in late adolescence. It was hypotesized that there would be a direct relationship between these two variables, such that higher status should lead to higher ego strength and that this, relationship was mediated through socialization practices used by parents. These socialization practices were measured by a parental attitude scale (PARI) as perceived by adolescents. The Ego Strength scale was to measure adolescents' ego strength, these scales were given to high and low SES students in two different lycee. The general results suggest that there is a significant difference in child rearing patterns influencing adolescents' low SES groups. Significant differences were found in adolescents' ego strength in the different SES groups, with high SES adolescents having higher ego strength than low SES adolescents. No significant difference was found between.boys and girls. Significant differences were found in tihe extreme mothering and overprotectiveness dimension of parental attitudes scales such that less overprotective mothers being in high SES groups and positevely associated with high ego strength in their children. The second significant was found in the rejection of the housewife role dimension of the PARI scale, high SES mothers do not reject their housewife role and foster their children to have high ego strength significant difference was found between the equalitarianism discipline and obedience dimensions while parental conflict dimension was found to be strongly related to ego strength regardless of the socio-economic group. This latter finding suggest tha the home climate affects directly adolescents' personality in whathever group he belongs to. These results suggest that the different basic conditions of life at different levels of the social order affects parental attitudes influencing their children's ego strength.
Characteristics of Odor-evoked memories
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Yılmaz, Görgün.; Tekcan, Ali İ.
The aim of the present study is to provide a descriptive picture of odor evoked memories and define the most common odors that evoked memories. Moreover it is aimed compare characterictics of memories evoked by verbal, visual and olfactory cues. Also, the metacognitive judgments in odor evoked memories are investigated and they are compared with verbally and visually cued memories. To fulfill these purposes two experiments were conducted in this study. In study one participants were asked if they had a memory that is evoked by an odor and also asked to indicate which odor evokes memories. In the second experiment the differences between verbal, visual and odor cued memories were investigated by a well established and frequently used scale, Rubin’s Autobiographical Memory Questionnaire. Participants werer randomly assigned to one cue type group and they were presented seven cue items. The results showed that it was common to have an odor evoked memory and perfume was found to be most common odor that evokes memory. Also there was great inter individual variability with regard to odors that evoke memories. The characteristics of memories were found to be similar for verbal, visual and olfactory cues. Like other measures included in AMQ, emotionality, vividness, feeling of brought back, age at event and novelty of memories did not show any significant difference. However, there was a difference in metacognitive judgments and each cue type had different contributing variable for each judgments.
A Reevaluation of canonical categories in flashbulb memories
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Kızılöz, Burcu Kaya.; Tekcan, Ali İ.
The aim of the present study is to reevaluate the canonical categories in flashbulb memories defined by Brown and Kulik (1977). Also, the present study is aimed to examine the relationship between canonical categories and event type, consequentiality, event memory, and cue type. It was predicted that canonical categories will differ for personal and public events. Also, regardless of the event type, type of canonical categories remembered is expected to be related to the cue type. Furthermore, a relation between canonical categories and consequentiality and event memory is predicted. The data for the study was gathered from the participant who attended university entrance exam in 1998, 1999, and 2000. The cancellation of the university entrance exam in 1999, September, 11 events in 2001 and bombing of the HSBC Bank in 2003 were used as events for flashbulb memories. A questionnaire for flashbulb memory, a consequentiality questionnaire and an event memory questionnaire was used. The results revealed that there was difference between 1998, 1999 and 2000 groups in terms of word counts, number of canonical categories remembered and flashbulb memory scores for personal events. It was found that the number and types of the canonical categories were affected by the event type, consequentiality, and being affected by the event. No significant effects were found for cue type.
Effect of bilingualism on inhibitory control and theory of mind development
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) İlyasoğlu, Nazmiye Tuğay.; Tekcan, Ali İ.
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of bilingualism on inhibitory control and theory of mind development of preschoolers between the ages of 3 and 5. Accordingly, 2 age groups of bilinguals and monolinguals (younger group between the ages 3 and 4; older group between the ages 4 and 5) performed following tasks; theory of mind tasks (location false belief, location false belief explicit, contents false belief, appearance-reality task), inhibitory control (DCCS, Grass/Snow and Day/Night Stroop task and color-object Stroop task), Peabody Vocabulary Test, and lastly pretend play. The results of the study revealed only significant effects of age on both theory of mind and inhibitory control; not language. The results of the study were discussed in the light of SES and parent education level of the participants.
Distribution of autobiographical memories: cultural life script account examined
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Tartar, Elif Eda.; Tekcan, Ali İ.
The life script account of the distribution of autobiographical memories suggests that the culturally shared cognitive life scripts influence the encoding and retrieval of memories. Life scripts are argued to include positive events, mostly from late adolescence and early adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to investigate Turkish life scripts with different methodologies and to compare the cultural life script with the actual distribution of autobiographical memories. In Experiment 1, 247 participants estimated how old a hypothetical person was when s/he had been happiest, saddest, most fearful, most in love, most important and most traumatic experiences. In Experiment 2, 135 participants listed and evaluated seven important events that were likely to occur in the life of a newborn. In Experiment 3, 115 participants recalled autobiographical memories from different cue-words, their happiest, saddest, most fearful, most in love and most important and most traumatic autobiographical memories and their memories of three public events from their lifetime. Results revealed that there was a life script for Turkish culture which includes mostly positive transitional events from late adolescence and early adulthood, with a peak in early adulthood. However, although this script explains the recall of most important, most in love and happiest autobiographical memories, the distribution of cued-recall memories were not predicted by the cultural life script.
Negative mood regulation and the emotional disclosure paradigm: a closer look at individual differences
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Serbest, Demime Serap.; Müderrisoğlu, Serra.
This study aimed to examine an individual differences variable, namely Negative Mood Regulation Expectancies (NMR), on effects of written emotional disclosure regarding depressive symptomatology, level of intrusion and avoidance and intensity of negative and positive emotions regarding the written stressful experience. A total of 119, 17-28 years old university students (72 females, 47 males) were participated. The study consisted of three writing sessions and a follow-up session four weeks after the writing procedure. Participants who were divided into three groups (low, middle, high) depending on their NMR scores, were randomly assigned to either a written emotional disclosure condition or a control writing condition. Participants from two conditions (experimental vs control) with different NMR levels were compared on their BDI scores and health scores. Results indicated that participants in the disclosure group with lower NMR levels experienced a lower increase in their BDI scores compared to those in the control group with lower NMR levels. Results also revealed that neither experimental condition nor NMR level had effect on differences in health complaints, number of sick days, frequency of illnesses or frequency of doctor visits. Results suggests the importance of examining individual differences on the effects of emotional disclosure in order to understand for whom this procedure works best.
Developments in source monitoring and linguistic encoding of source
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Ögel, Hale.; Aksu-Koç, Ayhan.
The present study examined Turkish-speaking children’s source monitoring ability, and whether their ability to use evidentiality markers predicts their source monitoring abilities. Eighty-seven 3- to 6-year-old children participated over two sessions in two source monitoring tasks, (1) Mode of Knowledge Access Task, and (2) Source Identification Task; and three linguistic tasks, (1) Direct Experience Task, (2) Inferential (-mIs) Task, and (3) Reportative (-(I)mIs) Task. In the immediate part of the Mode of Knowledge Access Task, 3-year-olds performed worse than older children. In the delayed part of this task, 3-year-olds’ performance was lower than that of 6-year-olds. Identification of linguistic report was found to be more difficult than identification of other sources. On the Source Identification Task, 3-year-olds gave less correct responses, made more errors than 5- and 6-year-olds. All age groups’ source responses were found to differ depending on the source. These findings support the hypothesis that children’s source monitoring ability increases with age. The second hypothesis that children’s ability to use evidentiality markers to report indirect experience increases with age was also supported. On the Reportative Task, 3- and 4-year-olds performed worse than 5- and 6-year-olds, and on the Inferential Task, 3-year-olds performed worse than 6-year-olds. iv The last hypothesis that children’s performance on the linguistic tasks would predict their performance on the source monitoring tasks was partially supported. Performance on the Reportative Task was found to predict performance on the Source Identification Task. Discussion of findings focuses on different definitions of source monitoring and relations between language and cognition.
Attachment and reflective functioning
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2007., 2007.) Aracı, Işıl Feyza.; Fişek, Güler Okman.
The present study examined the relationship between attachment security and level of reflective functioning on a sample of late adolescents. A positive relationship between attachment security and reflective functioning was expected based on research suggesting that a secure attachment organization facilitates reflective functioning. 61 female and 58 male Bogaziçi University undergraduate students filled out the Short Form of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA) and the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ). The reflective functioning levels of the participants were assessed based on their parental relationship narratives in response to some selected questions from the Adult Attachment Interview, using the Reflective Functioning Scale developed by Fonagy, Target, Steele and Steele (1998). Results revealed that there was no relationship between either maternal or paternal attachment security, and level of reflective functioning. In addition, reflective functioning scores were a bit lower than expected. Maternal attachment security was found to be higher than paternal attachment security. Moreover, females were found to be more securely attached to their mothers and they showed a tendency to be more securely attached to their fathers. Results are discussed on the basis of the validity of the attachment measures used in the present study and the applicability of the Reflective Functioning Scale to the Turkish culture.
Different learning environments for preschool children in Turkish private and public preschools: mind versus virtue
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2006., 2006.) Batmaz, S. Arzu Akkum.; Köksal, Falih.
The purpose of this study is to explore the two underpinnings of learning acquisition. These are what Li (2004a, 2004b) proposes as learning for “mind” and learning for “virtue.” What is produced by the differences in people’s beliefs in their actual learning is emphasized in the study. “Actual learning begins early” (Li, 2004a; 2004b) is also presented by developmental evidences. The main aim of the study is to examine the influences on the conceptual orientations of learning by private and public preschoolers. A sample of 137 preschoolers, mainly five and six years of age provided free-narrative responses to story beginnings. The stories in the first set are about a cow which would choose between a book and a ball, positive and negative protagonists, one who would like to go to school and the other who would not want to go. The second set of stories is about the little bird who tries hard to learn how to fly, and the little bear who gives up trying to learn how to catch fish. In this study, differences emerged in children’s construal of learning processes in these two different settings as private versus public schools. Results indicated that there are significant differences between the private and the public preschoolers’ conceptual orientations of learning, i.e. public preschoolers held significance for both task and virtue orientations. Considering the ages of the students who participated in the study, the observed difference is possibly due to the children’s socioeconomical backgrounds.
Effect of BNST lesions on behavioral despair and navigational learning in female wistar rats
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2006., 2006.) Pezük, Pınar.; Canbeyli, Reşit.
The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is involved in many motivational processes especially in coping with stressful situations. Previously we reported that in male rats BNST lesions aggravated behavioral despair but did not interfere with navigational learning as tested by performance in the Morris water maze (MWM) task. Since the BNST is a sexually dimorphic structure, in the present study we tested female Wistar rats in both behavioral paradigms after bilateral electrolytic BNST lesions. Two weeks after surgery, lesioned animals (n=8) and sham-operated controls (n=7) underwent two forced swim tests separated by 24 hr to assess behavioral despair. A week later, animals were tested in the MWM with a hidden platform task for 10 days (5 trials per day) followed by a probe trial test with the platform removed. One day after probe trial, the animals were tested in a one day visible platform MWM. To assess locomotor activity, an open field test was administered two weeks after termination of the MWM task. Our results indicated that female rats also showed aggravated behavioral despair after BNST lesions which did not impair acquisition in navigational learning in the MWM task. The BNST lesions did not affect performance in probe trial of MWM or in open field test. Our findings strongly suggest that the BNST modulates depression as measured by behavioral despair in also female rats but does not seem to affect navigational learning.

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