Modifying body schemata in skinks Tiliqua gigas

Body schemata in skinks Tiliqua gigas were studied using a procedure in which the animals had to take into account the enlarged limits of their bodies while finding way through the holes of different diameters in the experimental setup. The skinks were demonstrated the ability to learn to take into account the natural limits of their bodies when interacting with environmental objects, and, when the limits of their bodies were changed, to modify the body schema, that is, to take into account the increase in their body size for orientation in the environment. The experimental index of the schema modification was the reduction of number of unsuccessful attempts to put the head into the holes through which their previously unmodified body could penetrate. The skinks also demonstrated the ability to transfer the previously formed habit to a new situation with changed positions of the holes.

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