Ontogenetic adaptation and learning: A developmental constraint in learning for a thermal reinforcer

✍ Scribed by Cynthia M. Hoffman; Graham S. Flory; Jeffrey R. Alberts

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 173 KB
• Volume: 34
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0012-1630
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(199903)34:2<73::aid-dev1>3.0.co;2-b

✦ Synopsis

demonstrated that 1-, 5-, and 11-day-old rats in a cool environment (25ЊC) acquired an operant head-turning response when rewarded with a 20-s warming of the platform on which they lay. In the current experiment 5-and 11day-old rats in a hot environment (40ЊC) acquired the head-turning response when rewarded with a 20-s cooling of the platform on which they lay, but 1-day-olds did not. The concept of ontogenetic adaptation helps us interpret these results: Neonatal thermotaxis constrains the 1day-olds from learning a novel operant response for a cool reinforcer in a hot environment. Because the thermotaxis wanes from birth, it is not as strong in 5-and 11-day-old pups that are thus able to learn the operant for a cool reinforcer.