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Sign- and goal-tracking in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua)

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Abstract

When animals associate a stimulus with food, they may either direct their response towards the stimulus (sign-tracking) or towards the food (goal-tracking). The direction of the conditioned response of cod was investigated to elucidate how cod read cue signals. Groups of cod were conditioned to associate a blinking light (conditioned stimulus, CS) with a food reward (unconditioned stimulus, US), with the CS and the US located at opposite sides of the tank. Two groups were trained in a delay conditioning procedure (CS = 60 s, interstimulus interval = 30 s) and two groups were trained in a trace conditioning procedure (CS = 12 s, trace interval = 20 s). The response pattern was similar for the delay- and trace-conditioned groups. The initial main response at the onset of the CS was approaching the blinking lights, i.e. sign-tracking. In the early trials, the fish did not gather in the feeding area before the arrival of food. In the later trials, the fish first approached the blinking lights, but then moved across the tank and gathered below the feeder before the food arrived, i.e. sign-tracking followed by goal-tracking within each trial. These two responses are interpreted as reflecting two learning systems, i.e. one rapid, reflexive response directed at the signal (sign-tracking) and one slower, more flexible response based on expectations about time and place for arrival of the food (goal-tracking). The ecological significance of these two learning systems in cod is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Victoria Braithwaite and three anonymous referees for their comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, and Einar Heegaard for advices on the statistical analysis. This study was funded by the Research Council of Norway, and complies with Norwegian regulations on animal experimentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Marine Research, 5392, Storebø, Norway

    Jonatan Nilsson, Tore S. Kristiansen & Jan Erik Fosseidengen

  2. Department of Biology, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7800, 5020, Bergen, Norway

    Anders Fernö

  3. Department of Animals, Science and Society, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 2, 3584 CM, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Ruud van den Bos

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  1. Jonatan Nilsson
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  2. Tore S. Kristiansen
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  4. Anders Fernö
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Correspondence to Jonatan Nilsson.

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Nilsson, J., Kristiansen, T.S., Fosseidengen, J.E. et al. Sign- and goal-tracking in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). Anim Cogn 11, 651–659 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-008-0155-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-008-0155-2

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