Summary: Durup & Thinus-Blanc (1987)

Durup & Thinus-Blanc (1987) investigated whether exploratory experience influences an individual golden hamster's (Mesocricetus auratus) ability to learn a shortcut. They allowed hamsters to explore two baited tables that could be accessed by a runway. Then, the animals were allowed to explore a shorter pathway that connected the two tables together. Finally, animals were given a choice between the longer pathway and two new shorter ones. Durup & Thinus-Blanc (1987) found that hamsters preferred the shortcut that did not cross over the previously experience linking path, or either of the two far portions that animals had linkage experience with. They suggest that prior experience of a linking element is important for establishing spatial relationships between objects and could be important for situational representation.

Summary: Leese (2012)

Prior to mating, pair bonding often occurs in monogamous animals. Leese (2012) tested the hypothesis that this behaviour allows for continuous partner (and potential other mates) quality assessment using the convict cichlid Amatitlania nigrofasciata. He allowed males and females to choose between their partners and novel individuals (opposite sex) at various times after pair bond formation. Leese (2012) found that females were more likely to remain with their partners, while males generally spent more time away from their partner with a novel female. However, this pattern differed with time spent in the pair bond. Males were initially very aggressive to novel females, while females initially ignored novel males. Even when individuals were given a "better option" (i.e. a larger mate), both males and females showed no preference. Leese (2012) suggests that pair bonding allows for continuous mate assessment by females, but not for males.

Summary: Anstee (1996)

The western pebble-mound mouse Pseudomys chapmani is a small conilurine rodent found throughout the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They construct mounds out of pebbles gathered from the surrounding areas. At any given time, not all mounds in a region might be occupied. Therefore, Anstee (1996) devised a scoring system, using the external features of the mound, to assess the likelihood that mounds are inhabited by mice. He found that mounds containing mice had a significantly higher index score than mounds without mouse and suggests that this scoring system is an effective predictor of P. chapmani presence within mounds.

Summary: Kemble et al. (1991)

Kemble et al. (1991) investigated how eltoprazine hydrochloride (DU 28853) influences exploratory behaviour and social attraction of conspecifics in mice. They found that exploratory behaviour was enhanced with drug treatment, but this also decreased conspecific social attraction. Kemble et al. (1991) suggest that eltroprazine, in contrast to another anxiogenic drug (fluprazine), ameliorates the neophobic response in mice. Similar to fluprazine, eltoprazine increases the aversive response to conspecifics. They suggest that this effect is mediated by alteration in olfactory function.

Summary: Sulikowski & Burke (2012)

 In foraging behaviour terminology, win-shifting consists of avoidance of locations that have yielded food recently while win-staying consists of active return to these locations. Numerous nectarivorous bird species have shown to be biased towards win-shifting, suggesting that this might be a candidate for a cognitive adaptive specialisation (since food resources that have been exploited recently will not necessarily be available). Sulikowksi & Burke (2012) demonstrated that noisy miners Manorina melanocephala and rainbow lorikeets Trichoglossus haematodus with prior reinforcement of win-shifting or win-staying maintained these preferences, although poorer performance was not necessarily a consequence of an inability to learn the win-stay event. Their results suggest that birds are sensitive to both strategies, implying that the adapted mechanisms (cognitive adaptation) may result from an inhibition of the win-stay response, rather than a lack of sensitivity to win-stay strategies.

Summary: Kasanetz et al. (2010)

 Numerous studies have shown that brain physiology is modified in a numerous ways through chronic exposure to illegal substances (i.e. drugs of abuse). Since some individuals are more likely to become addicts than others, this raises the question of which neurobiological adaptations are associated with a shift from no-addict to addict. Kasanetz et al. (2010) noted that long-term depression (LTD) can be suppressed through self-administration of cocaine and this is related to synaptic plasticity in the region of the nucleus accumbens. They found that rats that are likely to become addicts have permanently impaired LTD, while rats that are unlikely to become addicts show progressive recovering in LTD. Kasanetz et al. (2010) suggest that the transition to addiction could be mediated by a persistently impaired LTD when drug seeking behaviour is made consistently resistant to modulation by possible environmental changes.