Retention of acquired predator recognition among shy versus bold juvenile rainbow trout

Brown, Grant E.; Ferrari, Maud C. O.; Malka, Patrick H.; Fregeau, L.; Kayello, Lima; Chivers, Douglas P.

doi:10.1007/s00265-012-1422-4

Cited by 40 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Density gradients may also prove particularly rewarding in systems where there is a trade‐off between competitive ability (likely to be favoured at high population densities) and cognitive ability (Mery & Kawecki, ; Cole & Quinn, ). Cognition is also likely to play a role in predation risk assessment, through learning and generalisation (Griffin, Blumstein & Evans, ; Ferrari, Wisenden & Chivers, ) or through correlations to risk sensitivity (Brown et al , ), but selection on cognition in the anti‐predatory context has not yet been investigated. Spatial variation in predator density between rivers has already been exploited to examine population differences in brains and cognition (Brown & Braithwaite, ; Gonda et al , ) and could be exploited in the context of cognition/fitness correlations.…”

Section: Links Between Cognitive Ability and Fitnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying the evolutionary ecology of cognition in the wild: a review of practical and conceptual challenges

2015

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Cognition is defined as the processes by which animals collect, retain and use information from their environment to guide their behaviour. Thus cognition is essential in a wide range of behaviours, including foraging, avoiding predators and mating. Despite this pivotal role, the evolutionary processes shaping variation in cognitive performance among individuals in wild populations remain very poorly understood. Selection experiments in captivity suggest that cognitive traits can have substantial heritability and can undergo rapid evolution. However only a handful of studies have attempted to explore how cognition influences life-history variation and fitness in the wild, and direct evidence for the action of natural or sexual selection on cognition is still lacking, reasons for which are diverse. Here we review the current literature with a view to: (i) highlighting the key practical and conceptual challenges faced by the field; (ii) describing how to define and measure cognitive traits in natural populations, and suggesting which species, populations and cognitive traits might be examined to greatest effect; emphasis is placed on selecting traits that are linked to functional behaviour; (iii) discussing how to deal with confounding factors such as personality and motivation in field as well as captive studies; (iv) describing how to measure and interpret relationships between cognitive performance, functional behaviour and fitness, offering some suggestions as to when and what kind of selection might be predicted; and (v) showing how an evolutionary ecological framework, more generally, along with innovative technologies has the potential to revolutionise the study of cognition in the wild. We conclude that the evolutionary ecology of cognition in wild populations is a rapidly expanding interdisciplinary field providing many opportunities for advancing the understanding of how cognitive abilities have evolved.

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Section: Links Between Cognitive Ability and Fitnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Studying the evolutionary ecology of cognition in the wild: a review of practical and conceptual challenges

2015

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“…Although the reason for the apparent difference among species is unknown, retention of learned responses can be influenced by background levels of risk at the time of conditioning (Brown et al ., ), the number of conditioning trials (Ferrari et al ., ), and the individual's personality type (bold v . shy) (Brown et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…For example, memory of learned information has been reported to be at least 11 months in rainbowfish Melanotaenia duboulayi (Castelnau 1878) (Brown, 2001), 6 months in tidepool sculpin Oligocottus maculosus Girard 1856 (Green, 1971), and 3 months in paradise fish Macropodus opercularis (L. 1758) (Csányi et al, 1989), but only 2-10 days in the June sucker Chasmistes liorus Jordan 1878 (Archer & Crowl, 2014). Although the reason for the apparent difference among species is unknown, retention of learned responses can be influenced by background levels of risk at the time of conditioning (Brown et al, 2015a), the number of conditioning trials (Ferrari et al, 2010b), and the individual's personality type (bold v. shy) (Brown et al, 2015b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator recognition learning in rainbow dartersEtheostoma caeruleum: specific learning and neophobia

Abudayah

Mathis

2016

Journal of Fish Biology

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This study investigated whether rainbow darters Etheostoma caeruleum can learn to recognize unfamiliar predators through the process of classical conditioning. Etheostoma caeruleum were conditioned by exposing them simultaneously to their chemical alarm cues (a known fright stimulus) and either chemical cues from larval ringed salamanders Ambystoma annulatum (unfamiliar predator) or to a blank water cue (control). Conditioning could result in either specific learning of the A. annulatum cue or increased wariness in response to any novel cue (neophobia). To distinguish between these possibilities, E. caeruleum in both groups were exposed to either A. annulatum cues alone or to chemical cues from western rat snakes Pantherophis obsoletus (novel cue) 2 days after conditioning. Treatment (A. annulatum-conditioned) E. caeruleum, but not control E. caeruleum, showed a fright response when they were exposed to both the conditioned (A. annulatum) and novel (P. obsoletus) cues, indicating increased sensitivity to new stimuli. When E. caeruleum were retested after an additional 32 days, however, the fright response occurred only following exposure to the conditioned (A. annulatum) stimulus, indicating that specific learning of the A. annulatum cue had been retained whereas the neophobia to novel stimuli was temporary.

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“…Any factor that results in higher relative benefits associated with predator avoidance (i.e. reduced growth rates, Brown et al 2011b;Ferrari et al 2011; risk averse personality types, Brown et al 2012; high intensity initial conditioning, Ferrari et al 2010a;Gonzalo et al 2013) would be expected to extend the retention of acquired recognition. Here, we have shown that past experience in the form of background predation risk shapes retention of neophobic response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retention of neophobic predator recognition in juvenile convict cichlids: effects of background risk and recent experience

Brown¹,

Demers²,

Joyce³

et al. 2015

Anim Cogn

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Exposure to conditions of elevated predation risk, even for relatively short periods, has been shown to induce neophobic responses to novel predators. Such phenotypically plastic responses should allow prey to exhibit costly anti-predator behaviour to novel cues only in situations where the risk of predation is high. While there is evidence that the level of background risk shapes the strength of induced neophobia, we know little about how long neophobic responses are retained. Here we exposed juvenile convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to three background levels of short-term background risk and then tested their responses to novel predator odours. Cichlids exposed to low risk did not show neophobic responses, while those exposed to intermediate and high risk did. Using extinction trials, we demonstrate that the retention of neophobic responses is greater among cichlids exposed to high versus intermediate predation risk conditions. Moreover, we found much longer retention of the neophobic responses when cichlids were tested a single time compared to when they were tested repeatedly in the extinction trials. This work supports the prediction that neophobic responses to specific odours are relatively long lasting but can quickly wane if the cues are experienced repeatedly without them being associated with risk. It is clear that background level of risk and the frequency of exposure to novel cues are crucial factors in determining the retention of risk-related information among prey.

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Retention of acquired predator recognition among shy versus bold juvenile rainbow trout

Cited by 40 publications

References 58 publications

Studying the evolutionary ecology of cognition in the wild: a review of practical and conceptual challenges

Studying the evolutionary ecology of cognition in the wild: a review of practical and conceptual challenges

Predator recognition learning in rainbow dartersEtheostoma caeruleum: specific learning and neophobia

Retention of neophobic predator recognition in juvenile convict cichlids: effects of background risk and recent experience

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