Woo Kevin L, Hunt Maree, Harper David, Nelson Nicola J, Daugherty Charles H, Bell Ben D
School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, New Zealand.
Naturwissenschaften. 2009 Mar;96(3):415-9. doi: 10.1007/s00114-008-0491-8. Epub 2008 Dec 13.
By investigating the mechanisms that underlie the perception of environmental cues, we may begin to understand how the sensory system governs behavioral responses. This is the first empirical study to examine learning and visual sensitivity in a reptile species, the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus). We established a non-intrusive psychophysical method by employing an instrumental paradigm in order to examine discrimination learning and the ability to distinguish different flicker frequencies in the tuatara. Seventeen tuatara were trained under an operant conditioning task to respond to various discriminative stimuli flickering between 2.65 and 65.09 Hz. Tuatara were able to learn the operant task and discriminate between a constant light and flicker frequency rates between 2.65 and 45.61 Hz, but not at 65.09 Hz. We demonstrated a reliable psychophysical method where these reptiles could learn a basic operant task and discriminate visual stimuli in the form of flicker frequency rates. The tuatara's ability to perceive flickering light is comparable to that of avian, mammalian, and other reptilian species. This method is thus suitable for more comprehensive examinations of vision and additional sensory abilities in other reptiles.
通过研究环境线索感知背后的机制，我们或许能够开始理解感觉系统是如何控制行为反应的。这是第一项对一种爬行动物——楔齿蜥（Sphenodon punctatus）的学习和视觉敏感度进行研究的实证性研究。我们采用一种仪器范式建立了一种非侵入性的心理物理学方法，以检验楔齿蜥的辨别学习能力以及区分不同闪烁频率的能力。17只楔齿蜥在一项操作性条件任务下接受训练，以对在2.65至65.09赫兹之间闪烁的各种辨别性刺激做出反应。楔齿蜥能够学会操作性任务，并区分恒定光以及2.65至45.61赫兹之间的闪烁频率，但无法区分65.09赫兹的闪烁频率。我们展示了一种可靠的心理物理学方法，通过该方法这些爬行动物能够学会一项基本的操作性任务，并以闪烁频率的形式区分视觉刺激。楔齿蜥感知闪烁光的能力与鸟类、哺乳动物和其他爬行动物相当。因此，这种方法适用于对其他爬行动物的视觉和其他感觉能力进行更全面的研究。
