photo by Black Zack
Elephant Memory Tests
In 1964, Leslie Squier used operant conditioning to train several elephants at the Portland Zoo. He presented his findings that year at the meeting of the American Psychological Association. Then, due to policy changes at the zoo, his research was discontinued.
However, eight years later he secured permission to conduct follow up tests with the same animals he had trained in 1964. The research team wanted to know if the elephants would correctly complete tasks that they had not been asked to do for more than eight years.
Did the elephants remember their training?
During the follow up research study, Markowitz, Schmidt, Nadal and Squier (1975) tested three adult female Indian elephants for long-term memory on a visual discrimination task. Eight years earlier these elephants had been taught to distinguish between a dark colored disk and a light colored disk using the same equipment and procedures. Each elephant was tested over multiple sessions until she made 20 correct responses in a row, This was counted as success.
In the follow up tests, one elephant, Tuy Hoa, reached the success mark after a mere 6 minutes. In 43 attempts, she made only two errors. The other two elephants, however, did not seem to remember their earlier training and had great trouble re-learning the task. One reached the criteria for success after about 3.5 hours of testing, the second after almost 12 hours.
Why did the elephants “forget” their training?
At first glance, it appears that one elephant remembered her training and the other two forgot. However, further investigation by vision specialists revealed that the two “forgetful” elephants had vascular deficiencies in their retinas. (Basically, they were having a lot of trouble seeing.) It’s hard to do well on a visual task if you’re having vision problems!
Why zoo training programs are important
photo by Valerie
For example, animals can be taught to cooperate during injections and other medical procedures. Here’s a great video of some baboons showing off what they’ve learned with clicker training. Animals can also be taught behaviors such as “trade,” which helps keep the animal safe if it gets access to something it is not supposed to have. As well, if animals fail to perform routine tasks correctly, it can alert keepers to possible medical problems.
Has your animal ever “forgotten” how to do something?
Many times when a horse, dog or other pet won’t follow a cue or command, the trainer grumbles that the animal has “forgotten” the command. I know I’ve done this too before! It’s easier to blame the animal for forgetting, then to see if there’s possibly something else going on. Rather than labeling an animal as stubborn or forgetful, take the time to reevaluate your training program. As bird trainer Steve Martin says, we must take responsibility for our animal’s behavior!
What are some reasons why an animal might “forget” a task?
1. Medical or physical limitations. Like the elephants, an animal who doesn’t perform might be telling you that he hurts, he’s sore, he’s out of shape, or he has some other physical limitation that is preventing him from understanding or completing the task.
2. Conditions have changed. It might seem like you’re asking the same thing, but to the animal, it’s different. Last winter I taught Ginger to bow in the kitchen. It took her awhile to learn that she could bow on cue in the living room as well! When we change conditions and settings or add additional distractions, performance can often deteriorate until the animal adjusts to the changes. Sometimes, we might even have to re-teach all or part of a behavior.
3. Didn’t know it to begin with. Sometimes we think that we have a behavior under control or that the animal understands what we’re asking. However, when we increase criteria or tweak something a bit, the behavior falls apart. The animal might not have had a firm grasp or understanding of what was required.
4. Lack of motivation, punishment and aversives. The horse who refuses to get into the trailer hasn’t forgotten at all how to load up. Instead, he might be trying to tell you that the last four trips have been horrible for him, due to your poor driving skills. An animal who has found a task punishing, frightening or otherwise unpleasant is not going to be motivated to complete the task in the future.
Animals have remarkable memories and can be trained to do many complex and complicated behaviors. If an animal doesn’t perform a behavior when you ask, don’t immediately think that he’s forgotten! Instead, consider if there are other limitations or conditions that are keeping him from understanding your request and following through.
Reference
Markowitz, H., Schmidt, M., Nadal, L., and Squier, L (1975). Do elephants ever forget? Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 8(3), 333–335.
Full article text available here
photo by Stuart Bassil