Objective To explore the behavioral differences of Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Wistar rats in Pavlovian conditioning and reward operant conditioning task, and provide a good reference for selection of experimental animals in establishing the animal models of conditional reflex for studying higher brain functions. Methods Healthy 8-week-old SD and Wistar rats were used in this study. Single operant task and continuous operation training task, and multiple operation training task were used to assess the learning and memory ability of the SD and Wistar rats. Results Significant difference was found in the Pavlovian conditioning. SD rats performed more nose pokes (NPs) (P<0.05) vs. Wistar rats. There were significant differences during a single operation task.Wistar rats preformed significantly more total lever presses (LPs) (P<0.05) and cLP/LP (P<0.05) vs. SD rats, and there was obvious increase in total nose pokes (NPs) (P<0.05) on the fifth day. The two indicators,the lever pressing rate and the latency of the first lever pressing could explain objectively the rat learning and memory abilities. The latency of the first lever pressing in the Wistar rats was significantly shorter than that of SD rats (P<0.05), while the lever pressing rate obviously higher (P<0.05). In the continuous operation training task, the Wistar rats showed significantly higher nose pokes (vs. SD rats, P<0.05); and also had higher lever presses, reward earned, and correct accuracy rate, but with no significant difference between them.Conclusions Wistar rats exhibit excellently in a single operation task and continuous operation training task, while SD rats show better performance in Pavlovian conditioning.