Learning is a key behavioural adaptation allowing animals to respond to complex and changing envi... more Learning is a key behavioural adaptation allowing animals to respond to complex and changing environments. Although the field of animal behaviour has seen an increase in the taxonomic breadth of learning studies in recent decades, investigations within an explicit, broad phylogenetic framework are rare, curtailing our understanding of the evolution of learning and advanced cognition. Pit vipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae) represent a particularly interesting taxon in which to study patterns in learning as they are widely studied, have had learning documented in many species, occupy a range of ecological niches and possess vast and varied natural history traits. We investigated the latency to decision in a laboratory thermal maze in 13 species of pit viper (7 species of rattlesnakes and 6 species of nonrattlesnake pit viper) and one true viper species (the puff adder, Bitis arietans (Viperidae: Viperinae), as an outgroup comparison). Relative to the other pit vipers, rattlesnakes uniformly and quickly (after only one trial) decreased their latency to respond to thermal stress; their latency remained low and uniform across the remaining 11 trials. All other pit viper species failed to modify their behaviour across trials and maintained a consistent latency across all 12 trials, as did the puff adder. This pattern could reflect differential learning abilities between rattlesnake and nonrattlesnake pit vipers. Our results underscore the advantages of incorporating a broad phylogenetic perspective when investigating learning and comparative cognition.
... 1 Department of Natural Science, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 709 Oklahoma Blvd.,A... more ... 1 Department of Natural Science, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 709 Oklahoma Blvd.,Alva, Oklahoma 73717, e-mail: [email protected]. ... The Huynh–Feldt adjustment to the degrees of freedom was applied to all repeated-measures analyses (Kuehl, 2000). ...
This chapter reviews research on learning in rattlesnakes. In the course of this review I briefly... more This chapter reviews research on learning in rattlesnakes. In the course of this review I briefly discuss the varieties of learning, point out necessary control groups, illuminate some of the issues to be considered when conducting research on learning in rattlesnakes, and present tables that will allow one to quickly focus on necessary research areas. I will close with a series of recommendations. This is the first time a review has been dedicated solely to learning in rattlesnakes. There have been two earlier reviews of the reptile literature but none has focused directly on rattlesnake learning (Burghardt, 1977; Suboski, 1992). There is also a need to present a concise description of learning paradigms and discuss several issues related to the investigation of learning phenomena to an audience not familiar with traditional laboratory learning paradigms. Surprisingly, there are not many studies on rattlesnake learning. Several factors can be cited to explain why there are so few learning studies. First, rattlesnakes are difficult to study because they are generally inactive and eat relatively infrequently. The latter presents problems because it is difficult to find suitable rewards that can be incorporated into experimental designs. Second, they are venomous and therefore can be handled only by highly trained individuals. Third, there are no commercially available apparata such as "Skinner boxes" and "classical conditioning
We examined the effect of ethanol on a complex decision process in honeybees. In many contexts (e... more We examined the effect of ethanol on a complex decision process in honeybees. In many contexts (e.g., flower patches containing both blue and white flowers), honeybees have been shown to make decisions concerning which flowers to visit based on the reward's caloric value offered by competing flower types. However, under some contexts (e.g., flower patches containing both blue and yellow flowers) honeybees ignore the energetic differences that exist between rewards. When this occurs, some bees show extreme fidelity to one flower type, and other bees simultaneously show extreme loyalty to the competing flower type. In this set of experiments we use different combinations of flower colors to elicit these different context-specific behaviors, and examine response under the influence of ethanol in conditions with rewards differing in either quality or quantity. Alcohol affected the same decision situation differently in the alternative contexts we gave foragers. In the blue-white dimorphic flower patch context, foragers in the alcohol condition no longer followed the species' typical behavior of selectively choosing the higher energetic reward; they chose flowers randomly as if rewards did not differ between flower colors. However, in the blue-yellow dimorphic flower patch context, foragers in the alcohol condition continued their species-typical behavior of favoring their initial flower-color choice. That is, alcohol had no effect on behavior in the latter context. This pattern of context-dependent effects of alcohol was not associated with motor impairment in either context because flower visitation rate increased when bees were given ethanol. The brain regions responsible for alternative context behaviors (using the Drosophila model), or at least receptors within the same region responsible for these context-dependent behaviors, have very different sensitivities to alcohol, which suggests that differing neural processes are involved.
Glossaries of introductory textbooks in psychology, biology, and animal behavior were surveyed to... more Glossaries of introductory textbooks in psychology, biology, and animal behavior were surveyed to find whether they included the word ‘behavior’. In addition to texts, encyclopedias and dictionaries devoted to the study of behavior were also surveyed. Of the 138 tests sampled across all three fields, only 38 (27%) included the term ‘behavior’ in their glossaries. Of the 15 encyclopedias and dictionaries surveyed, only 5 defined ‘behavior’. To assess whether the term ‘behavior’ has disappeared from textbook glossaries or whether it has usually been absent, we sampled 23 introductory psychology texts written from 1886 to 1958. Only two texts contained glossaries, and the word ‘behavior’ was defined in both. An informal survey was conducted of students enrolled in introductory classes in psychology, biology, and animal behavior to provide data on the consistency of definitions. Students were asked to “define the word ‘behavior’.” Analysis indicated the definition was dependent upon the...
73 university students ( M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 4.8; range 17–44 yr.) from the southern state of ... more 73 university students ( M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 4.8; range 17–44 yr.) from the southern state of Paraná took the Psychology as Science scale to assess whether they view psychology as a rigorous science. Analysis showed the students considered psychology to be a science, agreed study of psychology should be part of a university curriculum, not many believed that psychological research may contribute to the solution of psychological problems, and few believed obtaining a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology was useful in obtaining employment. Data were compared with a previous study conducted on a northeastern sample.
Background Information Although all snakes are carnivorous, there is a wide array of items in the... more Background Information Although all snakes are carnivorous, there is a wide array of items in the diets of snakes. Some snakes
1 Laboratory of Comparative Psychology and Behavioral Biology, Departments of Psychology and Zool... more 1 Laboratory of Comparative Psychology and Behavioral Biology, Departments of Psychology and Zoology, Oklahoma State University, 215 N. Murray, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA 2 Uludag Universitesi, M. Kemalpasa MYO, M. Kemalpasa, Bursa 16500, Turkey 3 Northwestern ...
Learning is a key behavioural adaptation allowing animals to respond to complex and changing envi... more Learning is a key behavioural adaptation allowing animals to respond to complex and changing environments. Although the field of animal behaviour has seen an increase in the taxonomic breadth of learning studies in recent decades, investigations within an explicit, broad phylogenetic framework are rare, curtailing our understanding of the evolution of learning and advanced cognition. Pit vipers (Viperidae: Crotalinae) represent a particularly interesting taxon in which to study patterns in learning as they are widely studied, have had learning documented in many species, occupy a range of ecological niches and possess vast and varied natural history traits. We investigated the latency to decision in a laboratory thermal maze in 13 species of pit viper (7 species of rattlesnakes and 6 species of nonrattlesnake pit viper) and one true viper species (the puff adder, Bitis arietans (Viperidae: Viperinae), as an outgroup comparison). Relative to the other pit vipers, rattlesnakes uniformly and quickly (after only one trial) decreased their latency to respond to thermal stress; their latency remained low and uniform across the remaining 11 trials. All other pit viper species failed to modify their behaviour across trials and maintained a consistent latency across all 12 trials, as did the puff adder. This pattern could reflect differential learning abilities between rattlesnake and nonrattlesnake pit vipers. Our results underscore the advantages of incorporating a broad phylogenetic perspective when investigating learning and comparative cognition.
... 1 Department of Natural Science, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 709 Oklahoma Blvd.,A... more ... 1 Department of Natural Science, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 709 Oklahoma Blvd.,Alva, Oklahoma 73717, e-mail: [email protected]. ... The Huynh–Feldt adjustment to the degrees of freedom was applied to all repeated-measures analyses (Kuehl, 2000). ...
This chapter reviews research on learning in rattlesnakes. In the course of this review I briefly... more This chapter reviews research on learning in rattlesnakes. In the course of this review I briefly discuss the varieties of learning, point out necessary control groups, illuminate some of the issues to be considered when conducting research on learning in rattlesnakes, and present tables that will allow one to quickly focus on necessary research areas. I will close with a series of recommendations. This is the first time a review has been dedicated solely to learning in rattlesnakes. There have been two earlier reviews of the reptile literature but none has focused directly on rattlesnake learning (Burghardt, 1977; Suboski, 1992). There is also a need to present a concise description of learning paradigms and discuss several issues related to the investigation of learning phenomena to an audience not familiar with traditional laboratory learning paradigms. Surprisingly, there are not many studies on rattlesnake learning. Several factors can be cited to explain why there are so few learning studies. First, rattlesnakes are difficult to study because they are generally inactive and eat relatively infrequently. The latter presents problems because it is difficult to find suitable rewards that can be incorporated into experimental designs. Second, they are venomous and therefore can be handled only by highly trained individuals. Third, there are no commercially available apparata such as "Skinner boxes" and "classical conditioning
We examined the effect of ethanol on a complex decision process in honeybees. In many contexts (e... more We examined the effect of ethanol on a complex decision process in honeybees. In many contexts (e.g., flower patches containing both blue and white flowers), honeybees have been shown to make decisions concerning which flowers to visit based on the reward's caloric value offered by competing flower types. However, under some contexts (e.g., flower patches containing both blue and yellow flowers) honeybees ignore the energetic differences that exist between rewards. When this occurs, some bees show extreme fidelity to one flower type, and other bees simultaneously show extreme loyalty to the competing flower type. In this set of experiments we use different combinations of flower colors to elicit these different context-specific behaviors, and examine response under the influence of ethanol in conditions with rewards differing in either quality or quantity. Alcohol affected the same decision situation differently in the alternative contexts we gave foragers. In the blue-white dimorphic flower patch context, foragers in the alcohol condition no longer followed the species' typical behavior of selectively choosing the higher energetic reward; they chose flowers randomly as if rewards did not differ between flower colors. However, in the blue-yellow dimorphic flower patch context, foragers in the alcohol condition continued their species-typical behavior of favoring their initial flower-color choice. That is, alcohol had no effect on behavior in the latter context. This pattern of context-dependent effects of alcohol was not associated with motor impairment in either context because flower visitation rate increased when bees were given ethanol. The brain regions responsible for alternative context behaviors (using the Drosophila model), or at least receptors within the same region responsible for these context-dependent behaviors, have very different sensitivities to alcohol, which suggests that differing neural processes are involved.
Glossaries of introductory textbooks in psychology, biology, and animal behavior were surveyed to... more Glossaries of introductory textbooks in psychology, biology, and animal behavior were surveyed to find whether they included the word ‘behavior’. In addition to texts, encyclopedias and dictionaries devoted to the study of behavior were also surveyed. Of the 138 tests sampled across all three fields, only 38 (27%) included the term ‘behavior’ in their glossaries. Of the 15 encyclopedias and dictionaries surveyed, only 5 defined ‘behavior’. To assess whether the term ‘behavior’ has disappeared from textbook glossaries or whether it has usually been absent, we sampled 23 introductory psychology texts written from 1886 to 1958. Only two texts contained glossaries, and the word ‘behavior’ was defined in both. An informal survey was conducted of students enrolled in introductory classes in psychology, biology, and animal behavior to provide data on the consistency of definitions. Students were asked to “define the word ‘behavior’.” Analysis indicated the definition was dependent upon the...
73 university students ( M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 4.8; range 17–44 yr.) from the southern state of ... more 73 university students ( M age = 20.5 yr., SD = 4.8; range 17–44 yr.) from the southern state of Paraná took the Psychology as Science scale to assess whether they view psychology as a rigorous science. Analysis showed the students considered psychology to be a science, agreed study of psychology should be part of a university curriculum, not many believed that psychological research may contribute to the solution of psychological problems, and few believed obtaining a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology was useful in obtaining employment. Data were compared with a previous study conducted on a northeastern sample.
Background Information Although all snakes are carnivorous, there is a wide array of items in the... more Background Information Although all snakes are carnivorous, there is a wide array of items in the diets of snakes. Some snakes
1 Laboratory of Comparative Psychology and Behavioral Biology, Departments of Psychology and Zool... more 1 Laboratory of Comparative Psychology and Behavioral Biology, Departments of Psychology and Zoology, Oklahoma State University, 215 N. Murray, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA 2 Uludag Universitesi, M. Kemalpasa MYO, M. Kemalpasa, Bursa 16500, Turkey 3 Northwestern ...
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