Sex-specific cognitive flexibility in Atlantic mollies when learning from male demonstrators exploring a new food source
2021
Fuss, Theodora | Flöck, Simone | Witte, Klaudia
Numerous studies have examined social learning in different contexts on the one hand and sex-specific differences in a number of cognitive tasks on the other. The present study on Atlantic mollies, Poecilia mexicana, is among the first to link behavioural flexibility and social learning to cognitive sex-specific differences. We investigated sex-specific differences in the ability to exploit knowledge previously obtained through observation of experienced male demonstrators trained on different colours on how to find and access a hidden food reward. To do so, Atlantic mollies were initially trained to discriminate differently coloured stimuli. Upon successfully learning their task, they were introduced as demonstrators to tutor their conspecifics in subsequent observer test sessions. During these sessions, a male or female observer initially attended the foraging routine of the demonstrator performing the task. Green and yellow as the rewarded colours varied randomly within each observer test session. Thus, the observing individuals had to pay close attention to both the demonstrated behaviour and rewarded chip colour to maximize choice accuracy. Male observers performed significantly better, although significantly slower than their female conspecifics within all observer test sessions. However, female and male observers made either decision at virtually the same speed. Male observers decided correctly significantly more often than females. Our study is one of the first showing that fish exhibit remarkable sex-specific behavioural flexibility in a social context when reward contingencies change unpredictably.
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