Five 10-month-old wild male opossums (Didelphis virginiana) were used as subjects in a study of food-rewarded operant learning. All animals learned the assigned task. Neither the general slope of the learning curve (measured in terms of intervals between rewarded responses) nor the learning time or number of rewards to criterion differed significantly from data obtained using other mammals. The results are discussed in terms of an evolutionary model of comparative learning.
Sixteen young adult guinea pigs (Cavia porcellusi of mixed sex were used as subjects in a study of food-rewarded operant learning. All but one ofthe animals learned the required task. Although the general slope of the learning curve was more variable than that of other mammals, neither learning time nor number of rewards to criterion differed significantly from data obtained from other mammals. The results are discussed in terms of an evolutionary model of comparative learning, including ratio of brain weight to body weight and genetically fixed versus variable behavior categories.
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