Abstract
Previous research into the possibility of learning in paramecia in this laboratory has shown that these organisms can learn to go to and remain in a specific location based on cathode shock reinforcement. The present experiment was designed to determine whether paramecia could retain (remember) the learned brightness discrimination task. The results indicate that the retention interval for this task in paramecia is shorter than 1 minute. It is possible that paramecia can remember this task for longer than a second but shorter than the 1-minute interval that was used during test. It is also possible that remembering for more than a few seconds requires a nervous system, which paramecia do not have.
Highlights
Previous research into the possibility of learning in paramecia in this laboratory has shown that these organisms can learn to go to and remain in a specific location based on cathode shock reinforcement
The results indicate that the retention interval for this task in paramecia is shorter than 1 minute
Katz and Deterline used an additional control group that was exposed to bacteria after the exposure to the bare wire was completed and found that the paramecia would gather near the food source without any learning or training experience
Summary
Previous research into the possibility of learning in paramecia in this laboratory has shown that these organisms can learn to go to and remain in a specific location based on cathode shock reinforcement. Katz and Deterline used an additional control group that was exposed to bacteria after the exposure to the bare wire was completed and found that the paramecia would gather near the food source without any learning or training experience. Their experiment produced results similar to those of Gelber, the authors suggested that Jensen‟s assessment of the procedure and explanation of the data were more plausible based on observations of additional control subjects‟ behavior during their study. It is important to note that the change in cilia may result in a natural motion towards the cathode, paramecia are capable of swimming away from the cathode which makes this a reasonable method of reinforcement
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