Appetitive conditioning in Octopus cyanea.

Abstract

The performance of Octopus cyanea was studied in 3 appetitive conditioning situations. In Experiment 1, 2 groups were trained in a runway; a large reward produced faster acquisition when reinforcement was consistent and better subsequent performance on a partial schedule than did a small reward. In Experiment 2, activity in the vicinity of a feeder was measured, and in Experiment 3, latency and probability of response were measured in an automated version of a traditional conditioned attack situation (Boycott & Young, 1950). There was evidence of acquisition with continuous reinforcement in both experiments but in neither with partial reinforcement. All of the results can be understood in terms of growth and decline in the strength of stimulus-reinforcer associations with reinforcement and nonreinforcement.