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Serial Reversal Learning And The Evolution Of Behavioral Flexibility In Three Species Of North American Corvids (Gymnorhinus Cyanocephalus, Nucifraga Columbiana, Aphelocoma Californica), Alan B. Bond, Alan Kamil, Russell P. Balda
Serial Reversal Learning And The Evolution Of Behavioral Flexibility In Three Species Of North American Corvids (Gymnorhinus Cyanocephalus, Nucifraga Columbiana, Aphelocoma Californica), Alan B. Bond, Alan Kamil, Russell P. Balda
Alan B. Bond
In serial reversal learning, subjects learn to respond differentially to 2 stimuli. When the task is fully acquired, reward contingencies are reversed, requiring the subject to relearn the altered associations. This alternation of acquisition and reversal can be repeated many times, and the ability of a species to adapt to this regimen has been considered as an indication of behavioral flexibility. Serial reversal learning of 2-choice discriminations was contrasted in 3 related species of North American corvids: pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), which are highly social; Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana), which are relatively solitary but specialized for spatial memory; and western …