Department of Psychology, Auburn University, 226 Thach Hall, Auburn, 36849 AL, USA.
Canine Performance Sciences, Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, Auburn, AL, USA.
Anim Cogn. 2020 May;23(3):571-580. doi: 10.1007/s10071-020-01362-7. Epub 2020 Feb 25.
Working memory is essential for organisms to solve problems related to their survival and to adapt to changes in their environment. Researchers sought to create a non-human model of working memory that could be used to better understand its predictive value and underlying brain function. Several of these studies were conducted using the odor span task (OST) with rodents, and here, we present the first OST with domestic dogs (n = 6). The OST is an incrementing non-match-to-sample task in which dogs were presented with both a session novel (S +) and a previously encountered (S -) odor on each trial. A response to the session novel odor was always reinforced. Upon meeting training criterion on sessions with 24 trials or odors to remember, the dogs were tested on the OST with up to 72 odors to remember in the session. All dogs learned the OST and displayed accurate performance (≥ 79%) for the largest set size of 72 odors. In an analysis focused on the effect of intervening odors (i.e., the number of trials since the S - was last encountered), dogs demonstrated above-chance performance for up to eight intervening odors. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of dog working memory for odors.
工作记忆对于生物体解决与生存相关的问题以及适应环境变化至关重要。研究人员试图创建一种非人类的工作记忆模型,以更好地理解其预测价值和潜在的大脑功能。其中几项研究使用啮齿动物的气味跨度任务(OST)进行,在此,我们首次在犬类(n=6)中进行了 OST。OST 是一种递增的非匹配样本任务,在每次试验中,狗都会同时呈现一个新的(S+)和之前遇到的(S-)气味。对新会话气味的反应总是会得到强化。当在 24 次试验或气味的会话中达到训练标准后,狗将在 OST 中接受最多 72 个气味的测试。所有的狗都学会了 OST,并且在最大的 72 个气味的测试集上表现出了准确的性能(≥79%)。在一项专注于干预气味(即 S-最后一次遇到的试验次数)效果的分析中,狗在多达八个干预气味上的表现超过了机会水平。这些发现的意义在狗对气味的工作记忆背景下进行了讨论。