Features of learning in toads Bufo viridis during behavior that requires taking into account the limits of their own bodies

The goal of this work was to study the ability of the green toad Bufo viridis to form skills based on tactile sensations arising in the process of interaction between animal’s body and external objects. During the experiment we varied the proportions of the holes in the experimental setup, through which the animal penetrated, and the limits of the animal bodies by attaching blankets to their body with an extraneous object. It was found that toads can to take into account the natural limits of their own body when interacting with external objects, and also transfer this experience in a situation where the proportions of the holes in the experiment setup was varied. When the limits of the toad body were urgently changed so that these changes prevent the animals from penetration into certain types of holes, these animals did not learn to take into account the fact that the holes previously permeable to the natural limits of their bodies became impenetrable after increasing these limits. We state that these data indicate that the toads even before the experiment began had experience of taking into account the natural boundaries of their bodies. But toads are not able to modify their body schema, when the limits of their bodies are urgently increased.

1. Barabanshchikov V.A. Vospriyatiye i sobytiye [Perception and event]. SPb.: Aleteyya, 2002. (In Russ.).
2. Brattstrom B.H. Maze Learning in the Fire-Bellied Toad, Bombina orientalis // Journal of Herpetology. 1990. Vol. 24. № 1. P. 44—47.
3. Burghardt G.M. Environmental enrichment and cognitive complexity in reptiles and amphibians: Concepts, review, and implications for captive populations // Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 2013. Vol. 147(3, 4). P. 286—298.
4. Daneri M.F., Casanave E., Muzio R.N. Control of spatial orientation in terrestrial toads (Rhinella arenarum) // Journal of Comp. Psychol. 2011. Vol. 125(3). P. 296—307. doi: 10.1037/a0024242
5. Gallagher S., Cole J. Body Schema and Body Image in a Deafferented Subject // Journal of Mind and Behavior. 1995. Vol. 16. P. 369—390.
6. Johnson-Frey S. The neural bases of complex tool use in humans // Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2004. Vol. 8(2). P. 71—78. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2003.12.002
7. Khvatov I.A. Spetsifika samootrazheniya u vida Periplaneta Americana [Specificity of self-reflection in Periplaneta americana] // Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya. 2011. T. 4. № 1. pp. 28—39. (In Russ.).
8. Khvatov I.A., Sokolov A.YU., Kharitonov A.N. Sravnitel’nyy analiz vospriyatiya fizicheskikh kharakteristik sobstvennogo tela u zmey lampropeltis triangulum campbelli i elaphe radiate [A comparative analysis of perception of the physical characteristics of body in snakes lampropeltis triangulum cambell and elaphe radiata] // Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya. 2017. Tom 10. № 3. pp. 126—136. doi:10.17759/ exppsy.2017100309. (In Russ.).
9. Khvatov I.A., Sokolov A.YU., Kharitonov A.N. Uchet granits sobstvennogo tela stsinkami Tiliqua gigas [Modifying body schemata in skinks Tiliqua gigas] // Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya. 2016a. T. 9. № 3. pp. 54—71. doi:10.17759/exppsy.2016090305. (In Russ.).
10. Khvatov I.A., Sokolov A.YU., Kharitonov A.N., Kulichenkova K.N. Skhema sobstvennogo tela u gryzunov (na primere krys Rattus norvegicus) [Body scheme in rats Rattus norvegicus] // Eksperimental’naya psikhologiya. 2016b. T. 9. № 1. S. 112—130. doi:10.17759/exppsy.2016090109. (In Russ.).
11. Kundey S.M.A., Millar R., McPherson J., Gonzalez M., Fitz A., Allen C. Tiger salamanders’ (Ambystoma tigrinum) response learning and usage of visual cues // Anim Cogn. 2016. Vol. 19. P. 533—541.
12. Kuz’min S.L. Zemnovodnyye byvshego SSSR [Amphibians of the former USSR]. Moscow: Tovarishchestvo nauchnykh izdaniy KMK, 2012. 370 p. (In Russ.).
13. Maravita A. Iriki A. Tools for the body (schema) // Trends in Cognitive Sciences. 2004. Vol. 8. № 2. P. 79—86.
14. Morasso P., Casadio M., Mohan V., Rea F., Zenzeri J. Revisiting the body-schema concept in the context of whole-body postural-focal dynamics // Front. Hum. Neurosci. 2015. 9:83. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00083
15. Sotelo M.I., Bingman V.P., Muzio R.N. Goal orientation by geometric and feature cues: spatial learning in the terrestrial toad Rhinella arenarum // Animal Cognition. 2015. Vol. 18(1). P. 315—323.
16. Varela F.J., Thompson E.T., Rosch E. The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1991.
17. Yefanova YU.B., Matveyeva Ye.A., Barmashov A.E., Polozov V.M., Ogurtsov S.V. Oriyentatsionnoye povedeniye seroy zhaby Bufo bufo L. v letniy period [Orientational behavior of the gray toad Bufo bufo L. in the summer period] // Flora i fauna zapadnogo Podmoskov’ya. 2007. T. 5. 81—95. (In Russ.).

PlumX

article metrics