Takahashi K, Masuda R, Yamashita Y
Maizuru Fisheries Research Station, Kyoto University, Nagahama, Maizuru, Kyoto, 625-0086, Japan,
Anim Cogn. 2014 Mar;17(2):495-501. doi: 10.1007/s10071-013-0686-z. Epub 2013 Oct 4.
Animals in social environments can enhance their learning efficiency by observing the behaviour of others. Our previous study showed that learning efficiency of schooling fish increased through the observation of the behaviour of trained demonstrator conspecifics. The present study aimed to verify the key factor of observational learning by investigating what information is important for social transmission of feeding information. A striped jack (Pseudocaranx dentex) observer was provided with one of the five observation treatments: (a) pellets observation, where pellets were dropped near the aeration in an adjacent tank; (b) responding conspecific observation, where a trained conspecific demonstrator responded to the aeration without food in the adjacent tank; (c) foraging conspecific observation, where a conspecific demonstrator foraged near the aeration in the adjacent tank; (d) nearby pellets observation, where pellets were dropped in a transparent column near the aeration in the observer tank; and (e) foraging heterospecific observation, where a filefish (Stephanolepis cirrhifer) demonstrator foraged near the aeration in the adjacent tank. The response to the aeration in these observers was compared with that of controls who did not observe any behaviour. Only individuals who observed foraging conspecifics showed a response to the aeration after observing. These results suggest that observer fish acquire feeding information not through recognition of prey items or through imitation of the demonstrator, but through the vicarious reinforcement of a conspecific for foraging.
处于社会环境中的动物可以通过观察其他个体的行为来提高学习效率。我们之前的研究表明，成群游动的鱼类通过观察经过训练的示范同种个体的行为，学习效率会提高。本研究旨在通过调查对于进食信息的社会传播而言哪些信息很重要，来验证观察学习的关键因素。为一条条纹鰤（高体若鲹）观察者提供了以下五种观察处理方式之一：(a) 饵料观察，即饵料被投放在相邻水箱曝气口附近；(b) 有反应的同种个体观察，即经过训练的同种示范个体在相邻水箱中对曝气做出反应但没有食物；(c) 觅食同种个体观察，即同种示范个体在相邻水箱曝气口附近觅食；(d) 附近饵料观察，即饵料被投放在观察者水箱曝气口附近的透明柱体中；以及 (e) 觅食异种个体观察，即一只单角鲀（Stephanolepis cirrhifer）示范个体在相邻水箱曝气口附近觅食。将这些观察者对曝气的反应与未观察任何行为的对照组的反应进行比较。只有观察到觅食同种个体的个体在观察后对曝气表现出反应。这些结果表明，观察鱼获取进食信息不是通过识别猎物或模仿示范个体，而是通过同种个体觅食的替代性强化。
