Khvatov Ivan A, Sokolov Alexey Yu, Kharitonov Alexander N
Center for Biopsychological Studies, Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, 121170 Moscow, Russia.
Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 129366 Moscow, Russia.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2019 Jun 26;9(7):67. doi: 10.3390/bs9070067.
Body awareness was studied experimentally in the rat snakes . The experimental design required that the snakes take into account the limits of their bodies when choosing a suitable hole for penetration into the shelter. The experimental setup consisted of two compartments, a launch chamber and a shelter, separated by a partition with openings of different diameters. The diameters of the holes and/or their position in the partition were changeable. The subjects were 20 snakes divided into two groups, for one of which only the locations of the holes varied; for another, both the location of the holes and the limits of the body varied. The body was increased by feeding the snakes. In the course of the first three experimental series the snakes formed the skill of taking into account the body limits, which manifested in the reduced number of unsuccessful attempts to select holes too small for their bodies. During the fourth series, with the locations of holes randomized for each trial, the snakes demonstrated behavioral flexibility, significantly more often penetrating into the shelter from the first attempt irrespectively of the location of the suitable hole. We argue that these results demonstrate the body-awareness in snakes.
对锦蛇的身体感知进行了实验研究。实验设计要求蛇在选择合适的洞口钻进庇护所时，要考虑到自身身体的限度。实验装置由两个隔间组成，一个发射室和一个庇护所，由一个带有不同直径开口的隔板隔开。洞口的直径和/或其在隔板上的位置是可变的。实验对象是20条蛇，分为两组，其中一组只有洞口的位置不同；另一组则洞口位置和身体限度都不同。通过喂食使蛇的身体增大。在前三个实验系列过程中，蛇形成了考虑身体限度的技能，这表现为选择对其身体来说太小的洞口时不成功尝试的次数减少。在第四个系列中，每次试验洞口位置随机化，蛇表现出行为灵活性，无论合适洞口的位置如何，都显著更经常地从第一次尝试就钻进庇护所。我们认为这些结果证明了蛇具有身体感知能力。
