Context-specific cue use in the Eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) and its effects on decision making
In: BehaviourSearch for other papers by Alexander D. Roth in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Aaron R. Krochmal in
Current site
Google Scholar
Search for other papers by Timothy C. Roth II in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
Many species consider both prior experiences and the context of current stimuli when making behavioural decisions. Herein, we explore the influence of prior experience and novel incoming stimuli on the decision-making in the Eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta). We used a free-choice Y-maze to assess the preferences of turtles wavelength and intensity of light. We then trained naïve turtles to associate one arm of a maze with a food reward, and then tested the relevance of light colour and intensity on the turtles’ decision-making regarding arm choice. Turtles avoided bright light, even when presented on the side of the maze with which they had learned to associate a food. When light intensities of both sides were the same — irrespective of intensity — turtles chose the side they had previously learned to associate with the food reward. C. picta in our study showed a weak attraction to blue light and a strong avoidance of yellow light, a response generally consistent with previous work in sea turtles. Future studies should examine the ecological and evolutionary relevance of these decisions in field-oriented tests.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Abrahams, M.V. & Dill, L.M. (1989). A determination of the energetic equivalence of the risk of predation. — Ecology 70: 999-1007.
-
Avigan, M.R. & Powers, A.S. (1995). The effects of MK-801 injections and dorsal cortex lesions on maze learning in turtles (Chrysemys picta). — Psychobiology 23: 63-68.
-
Berridge, K.C., Aldridge, J.W., Houchard, K.R. & Zhuang, X. (2005). Sequential super-stereotypy of an instinctive fixed action pattern in hyper-dopaminergic mutant mice: a model of obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette’s. — BMC Biol. 3: 4.
-
Blumstein, D.T. & Bouskila, A. (1996). Assessment and decision making in animals: a mechanistic model underlying behavioural flexibility can prevent ambiguity. — Oikos 77: 569-576.
-
Burghardt, G.M. (1977). Learning processes in reptiles. — In: Biology of the Reptilia. Vol. 7. Ecology and behavior (Cans, C. & Tinkle, D.W., eds). Academic Press, London, p. 555-568.
-
Burghardt, G.M. (2015). Play in fishes, frogs and reptiles. — Curr. Biol. 25: R9-R10.
-
Conradt, L. & Roper, T.J. (2005). Consensus decision making in animals. — Trends Ecol. Evol. 20: 449-456.
-
Davis, K.M. & Burghardt, G.M. (2011). Turtles learn about visual cues indicating food from experienced turtles. — J. Comp. Psychol. 125: 401-410.
-
Dill, L.M. (1987). Animal decision-making and its ecological consequences — the future of aquatic ecology and behavior. — Can. J. Zool. 65: 803-811.
-
Dixon, L.M., Duncan, I.J.H. & Mason, G. (2008). What’s in a peck? Using fixed action pattern morphology to identify the motivational basis of abnormal feather-pecking behaviour. — Anim. Behav. 76: 1035-1042.
-
Dukas, R. (2004). Evolutionary biology of animal cognition. — Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Sys. 35: 347-374.
-
Fritsches, K.A. (2012). Australian Loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings do not avoid yellow. — Mar. Freshw. Behav. Physiol. 45: 79-89.
-
Garcia, M.J., Murphree, J., Wilson, J. & Earley, R.L. (2014). Mechanisms of decision making during contests in green anole lizards: prior experience and assessment. — Anim. Behav. 92: 45-54.
-
Gould, E. (1957). Orientation in box turtles, Terrapene carolina. — Biol. Bull. 112: 336-348.
-
Graf, V.A. (1972). Behavioral visual functions for Chrysemys picta — preferences and frequency responses. — Brain Behav. Evol. 5: 155.
-
Grosse, A.M., Sterrett, S.C. & Maerz, J.C. (2010). Effects of turbidity on the foraging success of the Eastern painted turtle. — Copeia: 463-467.
-
Gutnick, T., Weissenbacher, A. & Kuba, M.J. (2020). The underestimated giants: operant condition, visual discrimination, and long-term memory in giant tortoises. — Anim. Cogn. 23: 159-167.
-
Iwaniuk, A.N. (2017). The evolution of cognitive brains in non-mammals. — In: Evolution of the brain, cognition, and emotion in vertebrates (Watanabe, S., Hofman, M.A. & Shimizu, T., eds). Springer, Tokyo, p. 101.
-
Kats, L.B. & Dill, L.M. (1998). The scent of death: chemosensory assessment of predation risk by prey animals. — Ecoscience 5: 361-394.
-
Kis, A., Huber, L. & Wilkinson, A. (2015). Social learning by imitation in a reptile. — Anim. Cogn. 18: 325-331.
-
Kramer, M. (1989). Individual discrimination in juveniles of two turtles, Pseudemys nelsoni and Pseudemys floridana (Chelonia, Emydidae). — Biol. Behav. 26: 148-156.
-
López, J.C., Rodríguez, F., Gómez, Y., Vargas, J.P., Broglio, C. & Salas, C. (2000). Place and cue learning in turtles. — Anim. Learn. Behav. 28: 360-372.
-
Lorenz, K. & Tinbergen, N. (1970). Taxis and instinct in egg-rolling response of the greylag goose. — Stud. Anim. Hum. Behav. 1: 328-342.
-
Mearns, D.S., Donovan, J.C., Fernandez, A.M., Semmelhack, J.L. & Baier, H. (2020). Deconstructing hunting behavior reveals a tightly coupled stimulus-response loop. — Curr. Biol. 30: 54-69.
-
Mrosovsky, N. & Carr, A. (1967). Preferences for light of short wavelengths in hatchling green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) tested on their natural nesting beaches. — Behaviour 28: 217-231.
-
Mrosovsky, N. & Boycott, B.B. (1966). Intra- and interspecific differences in phototactic behaviour of freshwater turtles. — Behaviour 26: 215-227.
-
Mueller-Paul, J., Wilkinson, A., Aust, U., Steurer, M., Hall, G. & Huber, L. (2014). Touchscreen performance and knowledge transfer in the red-footed tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonaria). — Behav. Process. 106: 187-192.
-
Naumann, R.K., Ondracek, J.M., Reiter, S., Shein-Idelson, M., Tosches, M.A., Yamawaki, T.M. & Laurent, G. (2015). The reptilian brain. — Curr. Biol. 25: R317.
-
Ortleb, E.P. & Sexton, O.J. (1964). Orientation in the painted turtle, Chrysemys picta. — Am. Midl. Natur. 71: 320-334.
-
Owen, M.A., Swaisgood, R.R. & Blumstein, D.T. (2017). Contextual influences on animal decision-making: significance for behavior-based wildlife conservation and management. — Integr. Zool 12: 32-48.
-
Roth, T.C. & Krochmal, A.R. (2015). The role of age-specific learning and experience for turtles navigating a changing landscape. — Curr. Biol. 25: 333-337.
-
Roth, T.C., Krochmal, A.R. & LaDage, L.D. (2019). Reptilian cognition: a more complex picture via integration of neurological mechanisms, behavioral constraints, and evolutionary context. — BioEssays 41: 1900033.
-
Stephens, D.W. (2008). Decision ecology: foraging and the ecology of animal decision making. — Cogn. Affect. Behav. Neurosci. 8: 475-484.
-
Wilkinson, A. & Glass, E. (2018). Cold-blooded cognition: how to get a tortoise out of its shell. — In: Field and laboratory methods in animal cognition. Cognition (Amici, F. & Bueno, N., eds). Cambridge University Press, UK.
-
Wilkinson, A., Chan, H.-M. & Hall, G. (2007). Spatial learning and memory in the tortoise (Geochelone carbonaria). — J. Comp. Psychol. 121: 412-418.
-
Witherington, B.E. & Bjorndal, K.A. (1991). Influences of wavelength and intensity on hatchling sea turtle phototaxis — implications for seas-finding behavior. — Copeia: 1060-1069.
-
Young, M., Salmon, M. & Forward, R. (2012). Visual wavelength discrimination by the loggerhead turtle, Caretta caretta. — Biol. Bull. 222: 46-55.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1092 | 201 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 162 | 3 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 249 | 8 | 0 |
Context-specific cue use in the Eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta) and its effects on decision making
In: BehaviourSearch for other papers by Alexander D. Roth in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Aaron R. Krochmal in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Timothy C. Roth II in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Many species consider both prior experiences and the context of current stimuli when making behavioural decisions. Herein, we explore the influence of prior experience and novel incoming stimuli on the decision-making in the Eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta). We used a free-choice Y-maze to assess the preferences of turtles wavelength and intensity of light. We then trained naïve turtles to associate one arm of a maze with a food reward, and then tested the relevance of light colour and intensity on the turtles’ decision-making regarding arm choice. Turtles avoided bright light, even when presented on the side of the maze with which they had learned to associate a food. When light intensities of both sides were the same — irrespective of intensity — turtles chose the side they had previously learned to associate with the food reward. C. picta in our study showed a weak attraction to blue light and a strong avoidance of yellow light, a response generally consistent with previous work in sea turtles. Future studies should examine the ecological and evolutionary relevance of these decisions in field-oriented tests.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 1092 | 201 | 16 |
| Full Text Views | 162 | 3 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 249 | 8 | 0 |
