Reversal of a Spatial Discrimination Task in the Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris).

ABSTRACT: Reversal learning requires an animal to learn to discriminate between two stimuli but reverse its responses to these stimuli every time it has reached a learning criterion. Thus, different from pure discrimination experiments, reversal learning experiments require the animal to respond to stimuli flexibly, and the reversal learning performance can be taken as an illustration of the animal's cognitive abilities. We herein describe a reversal learning experiment involving a simple spatial discrimination task, choosing the right or left side, with octopus. When trained with positive reinforcement alone, most octopuses did not even learn the original task. The learning behavior changed drastically when incorrect choices were indicated by a visual signal: the octopuses learned the task within a

SUBMITTER: Bublitz A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8267067 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature