Touchscreen performance and knowledge transfer in the red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria)

Area of Science:

• Comparative cognition
• Animal behavior
• Reptile spatial learning

Background:

• Red-footed tortoises exhibit spatial cognition skills in tasks requiring movement.
• Previous research focused on spatial tasks involving whole-body movement.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate touchscreen spatial learning in red-footed tortoises.
• Examine the relationship between touchscreen and arena-based spatial tasks.
• Assess transfer of learning between different spatial environments.

Main Methods:

• Four red-footed tortoises were trained on a touchscreen spatial discrimination task.
• Performance was evaluated in a physical arena task.
• Learning and transfer were assessed through task reversals and context-dependent testing.

Main Results:

• Tortoises successfully learned the touchscreen spatial task.
• Initial touchscreen-learned preferences transferred to the arena.
• Arena reversals were learned, but not transferred back to the touchscreen, indicating context-dependent strategies.

Conclusions:

• Red-footed tortoises demonstrate the capacity to learn and perform spatial tasks using a touchscreen interface.
• Spatial learning in tortoises can be context-dependent, with distinct strategies employed in touchscreen versus arena environments.
• This study highlights the flexibility of spatial cognition in reptiles across different response modalities.