[ad_1]
May 14 (UPI) – Food rewards can actually prevent researchers from appreciating the true intelligence of animals.
According to a new study, it becomes harder to differentiate the knowledge and performance of a test subject, as well as the way each is influenced by the environment, when treats are administered to animals to enable them to learn and complete tasks.
"Most learning research is about how humans and other animals learn about content, or knowledge," said Kishore Kuchibhotla, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Johns Hopkins University, in a statement. Press release. "Here we suggest that there are two parallel learning processes: one for the content and the other for the context or the environment.If we can separate the operation of these two pathways , we may be able to find ways to improve performance. "
Until now, scientists did not know how positive reinforcement influenced knowledge and performance.
The difference between knowledge and performance can be explained by a student who demonstrates knowledge of a subject or concept when studying at home, but who performs poorly during the course of his or her career. a quiz or a test at the school.
"What we know at one time may be different from what we are showing, what we are interested in is being able to access that knowledge in the right environment," Kuchibhotla said.
For the new study, scientists trained mice, rats and ferrets trained to perform a series of tasks with or without treats as an incentive. For one test, the researchers trained mice to lick a tube after hearing a single tone. They also trained the mice to refrain from licking the tube after hearing a different tone.
When a licking tube filled with water was provided to encourage the mice to learn the task, they performed the task at 50%. But when the scientists removed the lick tube after a few days, the mice worked at a rate of 90%.
During a follow-up test, the scientists trained mice, rats and ferrets to perform various tasks. The mice were trained to press the lever to get water when they heard a specific tone, while the rats were trained to look for food in a cup. The animals were trained to refrain from searching for water and food if a light appeared before the tone. Ferrets have been trained to differentiate two sounds.
When animals were trained to simply leverage without any reward for food, they were quicker to execute – or demonstrate – their knowledge.
"The rewards, it seems, help to improve learning gradually, but can mask the knowledge that animals have actually gained, especially at the beginning of learning," Kuchibhotla said.
Kuchibhotla and her research partners have published their analysis of the mitigating effects of food rewards in Nature Communications.
[ad_2]
Source link