Food-rewarded operant learning in the guinea pig

Abstract

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.

Managing long-term wellness in captive sea turtles

“…Even simple devices such as water jugs, PVC pipes and stationary 'back-scratching' devices elicited exploratory and interactive responses, some evidently species-specific (Guillen et al 2008). Though perhaps operating at a slower pace, chelonians are known to have cognitive capabilities such as long-term retention of visual discrimination tasks (Angermeier & Hidalgo 1996;Davis & Burghardt 2012), can learn through social facilitation and stimulus enhancement (Davis 2009), and have spatial and memory capabilities similar to those described in mammals and birds (Lopez et al 2000;Wilkinson et al 2007). Marine turtles are also equipped with complex optic visual systems that include colour vision (Levenson et al 2004;Eckert et al 2006), perceive chemical cues via olfaction (Manton et al 1972;Grassman & Owens 1982), and recent evidence also suggests that sea turtles perceive sound underwater, particularly in low frequencies (O'Hara & Wilcox 1990;Martin et al 2012).…”