Place and cue learning in turtles

Turtles (Pseudemys scripta) were trained in place, cue, and control arm maz e procedures. The turtles learned both tasks with accuracy. Subsequent prob e and transfer trials revealed guidance and map ping strategies by the cue and the place groups, respectively. Thus, the turtles in the cue procedure solved their task by directly approaching the single individual intramaze c ue associated with the goal, whereas the animals in the place task seemed t o be using a maplike representation based on the encoding of simultaneous s patial relationships between the goal and the extramaze visual cues. Furthe r more, the turtles in the place task were able to navigate with accuracy t o the goal from unfamiliar start places, and their performance was resistan t to a partial loss of relevant environmental information. The results reve al for the first time, to our knowledge, spatial learning and memory capabi lities in a reptile that closely parallel those described in mammals and bi rds.