Abstract
Following spatial disorientation, animals can reorient themselves by relying on geometric cues (metric and sense) specified both by the macroscopic surface layout of an enclosed space and prominent visual landmarks in arrays. Whether spatial reorientation in arrays of landmarks is based on explicit representation of the geometric cues is a matter of debate. Here we trained homing pigeons (Columba livia) to locate a food-reward in a rectangular array of four identical or differently coloured pipes provided with four openings, only one of which allowed the birds to have access to the reward. Pigeons were trained either with a stable or a variable position of the opening on pipes, so that they could view the array either from the same or a variable perspective. Explicit mapping of configural geometry would predict successful reorientation irrespective of access condition. In contrast, we found that a stable view of the array facilitated spatial learning in homing pigeons, likely through the formation of snapshot-like memories.
Highlights
Following spatial disorientation, animals can reorient themselves according to geometric cues specified by the macroscopic surface layout of an enclosed space [1,2]
In a vertebrate species, the domestic chick, it has been recently suggested the use of a view-based strategy, rather than an explicit representation of geometry, for spatial reorientation in an array of landmarks [6]
The procedure parallels previous laboratory studies of spatial reorientation in rectangular shaped enclosures [1], except that both geometric and non-geometric cues were provided by four proximal landmarks arranged in a rectangular shaped array rather by the shape of the three-dimensional surface layout of the arena
Summary
Animals can reorient themselves according to geometric cues (metric and sense) specified by the macroscopic surface layout of an enclosed space [1,2]. Research ( in humans) focussed on reorientation in enclosed spaces [3], recent evidence suggest that animals can learn to reorient according to geometric cues in arrays of freestanding objects [4,5,6]. This raises the issue of whether reorientation in arrays of freestanding objects relies on explicit representation of geometric cues (and see for similar concerns about extended surfaces [7]). Due to the complexity of spatial cognition in birds and to robust evidences of geometric representation of environments [1,10], the hypothesis of a purely view-based strategy in learning spatial features used for re-orientation deserves further investigations
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