Are lizards capable of inhibitory control? Performance on a semi-transparent version of the cylinder task in five species of Australian skinks
| Autor: | Martin J. Whiting, Birgit Szabo, Sebastian Hoefer |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Range (biology) Zoology Non-avian reptile 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Task (project management) Eulamprus quoyii Executive functions Cognition biology.animal medicine 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences 050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics biology Lizard 05 social sciences Neophobia 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik::570 Biowissenschaften Biologie::570 Biowissenschaften Biologie biology.organism_classification medicine.disease Animal ecology Response inhibition Squamate reptile 570 Life sciences 590 Animals (Zoology) Animal Science and Zoology |
| Zdroj: | Szabo, Birgit; Hoefer, Sebastian; Whiting, Martin J. (2020). Are lizards capable of inhibitory control? Performance on a semi-transparent version of the cylinder task in five species of Australian skinks. Behavioral ecology and sociobiology, 74(10) Springer-Verlag 10.1007/s00265-020-02897-y |
| DOI: | 10.17169/refubium-28367 |
| Popis: | Inhibitory control, the inhibition of prepotent actions, is essential for higher-order cognitive processes such as planning, reasoning, and self-regulation. Individuals and species differ in inhibitory control. Identifying what influences inhibitory control ability within and between species is key to understanding how it evolved. We compared performance in the cylinder task across five lizard species: tree skinks (Egernia striolata), gidgee skinks (Egernia stokesii), eastern blue-tongue skinks (Tiliqua s. scincoides), sleepy lizards (Tiliqua r. asper), and eastern water skinks (Eulamprus quoyii). In our task, animals had to inhibit the prepotent motor response of directly approaching a reward placed within a semi-transparent mesh cylinder and instead reach in through the side openings. Additionally, in three lizard species, we compared performance in the cylinder task to reversal learning to determine the task specificity of inhibitory ability. Within species, neither sex, origin, body condition, neophobia, nor pre-experience with other cognitive tests affected individual performance. Species differed in motor response inhibition: Blue-tongue skinks made fewer contacts with the semi-transparent cylinder wall than all other species. Blue-tongue skinks also had lower body condition than the other species which suggest motivation as the underlying cause for species differences in task performance. Moreover, we found no correlation between inhibitory ability across different experiments. This is the first study comparing cylinder task performance among lizard species. Given that inhibitory control is probably widespread in lizards, motor response inhibition as exercised in the cylinder task appears to have a long evolutionary history and is likely fundamental to survival and fitness.SignificanceThe study of lizard cognition is receiving increasing attention. Lizards are a diverse group with a wide range of ecological attributes and represent a model system through which we can test a wide range of hypotheses relating to cognitive evolution. Furthermore, considering their evolutionary history, studying non-avian reptile cognition can help understand the evolution of different cognitive abilities including inhibitory control. Here, we provide a comparison of inhibitory control ability in five lizard species. Consequently, we are able to, firstly, validate a method (the cylinder task) initially developed for the use in mammals and birds, for use in lizards, and secondly, collect valuable data on inhibitory control in a poorly studied group with respect to cognitive ability. Our study suggests non-cognitive factors as a major influence on cylinder task performance, which is in agreement with previous studies of other vertebrates. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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