Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing Center
Comparative cognition aims to understand the evolutionary history and current function of cognitive abilities in a variety of species with diverse natural histories. One characteristic often attributed to higher cognitive abilities is higher-order conceptual learning, such as the ability to learn co...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-01-01
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| Series: | Insects |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/1/81 |
| _version_ | 1797493135725559808 |
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| author | Kenna D. S. Lehmann Fiona G. Shogren Mariah Fallick James Colton Watts Daniel Schoenberg Daniel D. Wiegmann Verner P. Bingman Eileen A. Hebets |
| author_facet | Kenna D. S. Lehmann Fiona G. Shogren Mariah Fallick James Colton Watts Daniel Schoenberg Daniel D. Wiegmann Verner P. Bingman Eileen A. Hebets |
| author_sort | Kenna D. S. Lehmann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Comparative cognition aims to understand the evolutionary history and current function of cognitive abilities in a variety of species with diverse natural histories. One characteristic often attributed to higher cognitive abilities is higher-order conceptual learning, such as the ability to learn concepts independent of stimuli—e.g., ‘same’ or ‘different’. Conceptual learning has been documented in honeybees and a number of vertebrates. Amblypygids, nocturnal enigmatic arachnids, are good candidates for higher-order learning because they are excellent associational learners, exceptional navigators, and they have large, highly folded mushroom bodies, which are brain regions known to be involved in learning and memory in insects. In Experiment 1, we investigate if the amblypygid <i>Phrynus marginimaculatus</i> can learn the concept of same with a delayed odor matching task. In Experiment 2, we test if <i>Paraphrynus laevifrons</i> can learn same/different with delayed tactile matching and nonmatching tasks before testing if they can transfer this learning to a novel cross-modal odor stimulus. Our data provide no evidence of conceptual learning in amblypygids, but more solid conclusions will require the use of alternative experimental designs to ensure our negative results are not simply a consequence of the designs we employed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:15:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ece73279b0be45b19610ea67ba6810a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4450 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:15:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Insects |
| spelling | doaj.art-ece73279b0be45b19610ea67ba6810a82023-11-23T14:10:30ZengMDPI AGInsects2075-44502022-01-011318110.3390/insects13010081Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing CenterKenna D. S. Lehmann0Fiona G. Shogren1Mariah Fallick2James Colton Watts3Daniel Schoenberg4Daniel D. Wiegmann5Verner P. Bingman6Eileen A. Hebets7School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USASchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USASchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USADepartment of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USASchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USADepartment of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USAJ.P. Scott Center for Neuroscience, Mind and Behavior, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USASchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USAComparative cognition aims to understand the evolutionary history and current function of cognitive abilities in a variety of species with diverse natural histories. One characteristic often attributed to higher cognitive abilities is higher-order conceptual learning, such as the ability to learn concepts independent of stimuli—e.g., ‘same’ or ‘different’. Conceptual learning has been documented in honeybees and a number of vertebrates. Amblypygids, nocturnal enigmatic arachnids, are good candidates for higher-order learning because they are excellent associational learners, exceptional navigators, and they have large, highly folded mushroom bodies, which are brain regions known to be involved in learning and memory in insects. In Experiment 1, we investigate if the amblypygid <i>Phrynus marginimaculatus</i> can learn the concept of same with a delayed odor matching task. In Experiment 2, we test if <i>Paraphrynus laevifrons</i> can learn same/different with delayed tactile matching and nonmatching tasks before testing if they can transfer this learning to a novel cross-modal odor stimulus. Our data provide no evidence of conceptual learning in amblypygids, but more solid conclusions will require the use of alternative experimental designs to ensure our negative results are not simply a consequence of the designs we employed.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/1/81general intelligencecomparative cognitionamblypygidassociative learningcross-modal learning |
| spellingShingle | Kenna D. S. Lehmann Fiona G. Shogren Mariah Fallick James Colton Watts Daniel Schoenberg Daniel D. Wiegmann Verner P. Bingman Eileen A. Hebets Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing Center Insects general intelligence comparative cognition amblypygid associative learning cross-modal learning |
| title | Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing Center |
| title_full | Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing Center |
| title_fullStr | Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing Center |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing Center |
| title_short | Exploring Higher-Order Conceptual Learning in an Arthropod with a Large Multisensory Processing Center |
| title_sort | exploring higher order conceptual learning in an arthropod with a large multisensory processing center |
| topic | general intelligence comparative cognition amblypygid associative learning cross-modal learning |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/13/1/81 |
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