Development rate rather than social environment influences cognitive performance in Australian black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus

Abstract

Cognitive functioning is vital for enabling animals of all taxa to optimise their chances of survival and reproductive success. Learning and memory in particular are drivers of many evolutionary processes. The field of cognitive ecology explores how the environment can affect investment into cognitive capacity and learning ability. In this study, we examine how developmental plasticity can affect cognitive ability by exploring the role of early social environment on influencing problem solving ability and learning of female black field crickets, Teleogryllus commodus. We used two learning paradigms, an analog of the Morris water maze and a novel linear maze, to examine cognitive differences between individuals Cognitive functioning is vital for enabling animals of all taxa to optimise their chances of 12 survival and reproductive success. Learning and memory in particular are drivers of many 13 evolutionary processes. The field of cognitive ecology explores how the environment can affect 14 investment into cognitive capacity and learning ability. In this study, we examine how 15 developmental plasticity can affect cognitive ability by exploring the role of early social 16 environment on influencing problem solving ability and learning of female black field crickets, 17 Teleogryllus commodus. We used two learning paradigms, an analog of the Morris water maze 18 and a novel linear maze, to examine cognitive differences between individuals reared in two 19 acoustic treatments: silence or calling. Although there was no evidence of learning or memory, 20 individuals that took longer to mature solved the Morris water maze more quickly. This 21 suggests that increased investment into cognitive development is likely associated with 22 increased development time during immature stages. Inconsistent individual performance and 23 motivation during the novel linear maze task highlights the difficulties of designing ecologically 24 relevant learning tasks within a lab setting. The role of experimental design in understanding 25 cognitive ability and learning in more natural circumstances is discussed. 27PeerJ Preprints | https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.2728v1 | CC BY 4.0 Open Access |