Contributions of the genes albinism (c) and retinal degeneration (rd) to a strain-by-training procedure interaction in avoidance learning.

The effects of c and rd on jump-out and one-way avoidance learning were examined using both inbred strains and test crosses. Neither gene was found to retard either escape or avoidance performance in the jump-out task, although rd led to less accurate jumping. One-way performance, which required running through a small hole in a wall, was greatly disrupted in mice homozygous for rd; both escape latencies and learning rate were slower than those of mice with normal retinas. Two inbred strains with albinism did poorly on the one-way task, but no deleterious effects of c on one-way performance were detected in several test crosses. The absence of an albinism effect was not surprising, since all training was given under dim red light.