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Use of ordinal information by fish
Maria Elena Miletto Petrazzini1, Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato1, Christian Agrillo1,2
1Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Italy.
Scientific Reports
|October 27, 2015
Summary
Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) can learn ordinal numerical positions, preferentially using sequence over spatial cues. Their ability extends to the 5th position, though discrimination accuracy decreases.
Area of Science:
- Comparative Cognition
- Animal Behavior
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Mammals and birds process ordinal numerical information for tasks like sequence recognition.
- Teleost fish exhibit numerical abilities comparable to other vertebrates.
- The capacity of fish to learn ordinal numerical relations remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if guppies (Poecilia reticulata) can learn ordinal numerical relations.
- To determine if guppies prioritize ordinal over spatial information when both are available.
- To assess the limit of ordinal discrimination in guppies.
Main Methods:
- Guppies were trained to identify a specific feeder position (3rd out of 8) in a sequence.
- Training varied spatial cues to isolate ordinal learning.
- Probe trials contrasted ordinal and spatial information to assess preference.
- Discrimination limits were tested by training fish to identify the 5th position.
Main Results:
- Guppies successfully learned to identify the 3rd feeder position, even with varied spatial cues.
- In probe trials, guppies preferentially selected the ordinal position over the spatial position.
- Guppies could learn the 5th position, but with a higher error rate, suggesting a discrimination limit.
Conclusions:
- Guppies possess the ability to learn and utilize ordinal numerical information.
- Guppies prioritize ordinal sequence information over spatial cues when learning positional tasks.
- The numerical discrimination limit for ordinal positions in guppies appears to be around the 5th position.
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