Visual Delayed matching-to-sample in a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) - Adam A. Pack
University of Hawaii, Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Lboratory, 1129 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI, USA, 96814 -
- (C) 1988 University of Hawaii
A juvenile female California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) was trained to match 3-dimensional arbitrary objects in a 2-alternative matching-to-sample task. The study examined the animal’s ability to learn the identity matching rule and apply it to new matching-to-sample problems involving new visual objects. The study also examined the sea lion’s ability to remember the identity of the sample stimulus over delays. To test for matching ability a “sample” object was exposed until the sea lion touched it, and then it was removed. Two alternative objects were shown. A touch of the object matching the sample was required for a correct response. With the first pair of objects, a 90% or better performance criterion over two consecutive sessions was met after 724 trials. New pairs of objects were then introduced into the matching paradigm. The sea lion showed generalization of the matching rule to new objects in that errors to criterion declined markedly over successive pairs of objects. In addition to generalization, the sea lion could retain the identity of the sample stimulus with delays between the removal of the sample and the exposure of the alternatives, of up to and including 58 seconds (the longest delay tested).
- Pack, A. A. (1988). Visual Delayed matching-to-sample in a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus). Unpublished master's thesis, University of Hawaii, Honolulu
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