Measures
Zones and the annulus
Divide the pool into rings and see where the search happened.
Quadrants split the pool into four slices. Zones split it into rings, such as an outer ring by the wall and an annulus around the platform. They answer slightly different questions about where an animal searched.
Why it matters
Circular zones show how far the subject moves from the wall towards the centre as it learns.
More detail
Equi-spaced zones have equal radial width and help quantify movement away from the poolside; equi-area zones have equal area and allow occupancy comparisons without geometric distortion.
Zones add detail to thigmotaxis: whether a subject moved inward gradually or straight from thigmotaxis to full exploration. Older correspondence and the current web page letter the zones differently, so always check the diagram.
Circular zones (equi-spaced or equi-area)
Circular zones split the pool into rings so you can see whether the subject searched near the wall, in the middle band or at the centre. Click the explanatory diagram button on the analysis screen to see which letter is A, B or C in your version.
More detail
Zones are equi-spaced by default (equal radial widths, each a third of the radius) or equi-area if ticked. For a 180 cm pool, equi-spaced rings are each 30 cm wide (radius 90 cm / 3).
The outermost patterned band is the separate thigmotaxis band, set in ‘Advanced’. Older correspondence and the current web page letter the zones differently, so always check the diagram.
Related zone pages
This page covers circular zones across the whole pool. Two other kinds of zone have their own pages:
- Zones around the platform and other calibrated positions: the small "counters" used for close passes, including old and new positions in reversal trials.
- The chaining annulus: the ring at the platform's distance from the wall, used to spot chaining.
Questions people ask
Which circular zone is A, B or C?
Zones A, B and C are three rings that divide the pool from the centre out to the wall, showing how much time the subject spends at each distance from the wall. 1) On the analysis screen, click the explanatory diagram button: it shows which letter is which ring in your version, because the lettering has changed between versions. 2) Read the results: they give equal-width rings (each a third of the radius) and, if ticked, equal-area rings. 3) Label your results using the diagram.
More detail
Zones are concentric rings that divide the pool from the centre outwards, so you can see how much time the subject spends at each distance from the wall. Zones are equi-spaced by default (equal radial widths, each a third of the radius) or equi-area if ticked. For a 180 cm pool, equi-spaced rings are each 30 cm wide (radius 90 cm / 3). Click the explanatory diagram button on the analysis screen to see which letter is A, B or C in your version. The outermost patterned band is the separate thigmotaxis band, set in Advanced, which measures wall-hugging.
Going deeper
Older correspondence and the current web page letter the zones differently, so always check the diagram before you label results. Equi-area zones give each ring the same area, so chance time is the same in each ring (one third); with equi-spaced rings the outer ring is much larger, so a random searcher spends more time there.
What are KELLY_sc and BLOKLND1?
KELLY_sc is the time before the subject breaks away from the poolside beyond a radius set by KELLY_mt; it captures the early stage of learning to leave the wall. BLOKLND1 is % time in the quadrant excluding the outer thigmotaxis band.
More detail
KELLY_sc is a latency measure: the time in seconds before the subject breaks away from the poolside, that is, first moves inwards beyond the radius set by KELLY_mt. BLOKLND1 is the percentage of time in a quadrant after the outer thigmotaxis band is excluded. A long KELLY_sc means the subject stayed at the wall for a long time before searching, which is typical early in learning and shortens as subjects learn to leave the wall. KELLY_mt is listed with a default of 1 m in the analysis abbreviations; report the value you used. BLOKLND1 removes time spent wall-hugging, so quadrant preference reflects open-water search rather than thigmotaxis.
Going deeper
Use KELLY_sc and BLOKLND1 when groups differ in thigmotaxis: an anxious group can show low target-quadrant time simply because it spends long periods at the wall, and BLOKLND1 tests whether the open-water search that remains is still directed at the target quadrant. Report the band width and KELLY_mt with your results.
For setting up zones around the platform, see using circular zones in Morris water maze analysis.
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