Performance of untreated controls (Veh), hormone-withdrawn ‘postpartum’ females (PpD), simulated proestrus animals (ProE), and hormone-treated ‘postpartum’ rats (Horm) in the active escape test. Panel A provides information about the fluctuation of escape latencies during the 30-trial test, with each tracing point representing the average escape latency of five consecutive trials. Panel B demonstrates the mean escape latency of all 30 trials. One-way ANOVA found a significant hormone treatment effect (F3,48=6.66 P<0.001). Escape latencies of hormone-treated ‘postpartum’ rats were shorter relative to those of untreated controls and hormone-withdrawn ‘postpartum’ females (*P<0.01, Tukey-Kramer test) but not significantly different from those of simulated proestrus animals (P=0.196, Tukey-Kramer test). Panel C displays the number of failed trials (Escape Failures) during the same 30-trial active escape test. Kruskal-Wallis oneway ANOVA on ranks revealed a significant hormone treatment effect (H=18.665 df=3 P<0.001). Hormone-treated ‘postpartum’ rats made less escape failures than animals in other groups (#P<0.002, Mann-Whitney U test).