On the transfer of spatial learning between geometrically different shaped environments in the terrestrial toad, Rhinella arenarum
Fecha
2020
Título de la revista
ISSN de la revista
Título del volumen
Editor
Animal Cognition
Resumen
When trained in a rectangular arena, some research has suggested that rats are guided by local features rather than overall
boundary geometry. We explored this hypothesis using the terrestrial toad, Rhinella arenarum, as a comparative contrast. In
two experiments, toads were trained to find a water-reward goal location in either a featureless rectangular arena (Experiment
1) or in a rectangular arena with a removable colored feature panel covering one short wall (Experiment 2). After learning to
successfully locate the water reward, probe trials were carried out by changing the shape of the arena into a kite form with
two 90°-angled corners, and in the case of Experiment 2, also shifting the location of the color panel. The results of Experiment
1 indicated that the toads, in contrast to rats, relied primarily on overall shape or boundary geometry to encode the
location of a goal. Under the probe conditions of the altered environmental geometry in Experiment 2, the toads seemed to
preferentially choose a corner that was generally correct relative to the feature panel experienced during training. Together,
the data of the current study suggest that toads and rats differ in the strategies they employ to represent spatial information
available in a rectangular arena. Further, the results support the hypothesis that amphibians and mammals engage different
neural mechanisms, perhaps related to different evolutionary selective pressures, for the representation of environmental
geometry used for navigation.
Descripción
Palabras clave
Citación
Sotelo, M. I., Alcalá, J.A., Birngman, V.P., & Muzio, R.N (2020). On the transfer of spatial learning between geometrically different shaped environments in the terrestrial toad, Rhinella arenarum. Animal Cognition, 23, 55-70.
Colecciones
Excepto si se señala otra cosa, la licencia del ítem se describe como Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional