Biomaterial Database

Visual discrimination learning in the fire-bellied toad Bombina orientalis. 2010

Sarah E M Jenkin, and Frédéric Laberge

University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

This study explored the visual discrimination learning ability of fire-bellied toads (Bombina orientalis). Two groups of toads were trained in a simultaneous visual discrimination task involving video footage of either black crickets on a white background (black-cricket toads) or white crickets on a black background (white-cricket toads). Fifteen widely spaced acquisition trials were followed by 12 reversal trials. Successful learning was observed by decreased incorrect snapping and reduced latency to snap at the correct stimulus (S+) during acquisition; however, white-cricket toads executed significantly more incorrect snaps than did black-cricket toads. Both groups of toads could master the reversal task as measured by latency to snap at S+, but not as measured by the proportion of incorrect snaps. Despite the stronger potency of the black-cricket stimulus, the results showed that toads can learn a simultaneous discrimination task and a reversal of its contingency. This elaborate form of learning appears to be conserved among vertebrates.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008570	Memory, Short-Term	Remembrance of information for a few seconds to hours.	Immediate Recall,Memory, Immediate,Working Memory,Memory, Shortterm,Immediate Memories,Immediate Memory,Immediate Recalls,Memories, Immediate,Memories, Short-Term,Memories, Shortterm,Memory, Short Term,Recall, Immediate,Recalls, Immediate,Short-Term Memories,Short-Term Memory,Shortterm Memories,Shortterm Memory,Working Memories
D010364	Pattern Recognition, Visual	Mental process to visually perceive a critical number of facts (the pattern), such as characters, shapes, displays, or designs.	Recognition, Visual Pattern,Visual Pattern Recognition
D011930	Reaction Time	The time from the onset of a stimulus until a response is observed.	Response Latency,Response Speed,Response Time,Latency, Response,Reaction Times,Response Latencies,Response Times,Speed, Response,Speeds, Response
D004193	Discrimination Learning	Learning that is manifested in the ability to respond differentially to various stimuli.	Discriminative Learning,Discrimination Learnings,Discriminative Learnings,Learning, Discrimination,Learning, Discriminative
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001001	Anura	An order of the class Amphibia, which includes several families of frogs and toads. They are characterized by well developed hind limbs adapted for jumping, fused head and trunk and webbed toes. The term "toad" is ambiguous and is properly applied only to the family Bufonidae.	Bombina,Frogs and Toads,Salientia,Toad, Fire-Bellied,Toads and Frogs,Anuras,Fire-Bellied Toad,Fire-Bellied Toads,Salientias,Toad, Fire Bellied,Toads, Fire-Bellied
D001070	Appetitive Behavior	Animal searching behavior. The variable introductory phase of an instinctive behavior pattern or sequence, e.g., looking for food, or sequential courtship patterns prior to mating.	Searching Behavior,Appetitive Behaviors,Behavior, Appetitive,Behavior, Searching,Behaviors, Appetitive,Behaviors, Searching,Searching Behaviors
D012193	Reversal Learning	Any situation where an animal or human is trained to respond differentially to two stimuli (e.g., approach and avoidance) under reward and punishment conditions and subsequently trained under reversed reward values (i.e., the approach which was previously rewarded is punished and vice versa).	Learning, Reversal,Learnings, Reversal,Reversal Learnings
D015350	Contrast Sensitivity	The ability to detect sharp boundaries (stimuli) and to detect slight changes in luminance at regions without distinct contours. Psychophysical measurements of this visual function are used to evaluate VISUAL ACUITY and to detect eye disease.	Visual Contrast Sensitivity,Sensitivity, Contrast,Sensitivity, Visual Contrast