Publication Date:
2008-03-29
Description:
Using rules extracted from experience to solve problems in novel situations involves cognitions such as analogical reasoning and language learning and is considered a keystone of humans' unique abilities. Nonprimates, it has been argued, lack such rule transfer. We report that Rattus norvegicus can learn simple rules and apply them to new situations. Rats learned that sequences of stimuli consistent with a rule (such as XYX) were different from other sequences (such as XXY or YXX). When novel stimuli were used to construct sequences that did or did not obey the previously learned rule, rats transferred their learning. Therefore, rats, like humans, can transfer structural knowledge from sequential experiences.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Murphy, Robin A -- Mondragon, Esther -- Murphy, Victoria A -- S20033/Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council/United Kingdom -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2008 Mar 28;319(5871):1849-51. doi: 10.1126/science.1151564.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. robin.murphy@ucl.ac.uk〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18369151" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
*Cognition
;
Cues
;
*Learning
;
Male
;
Rats
;
Reinforcement (Psychology)
;
*Transfer (Psychology)
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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