Octopuses are solitary animals as adults, so researchers were surprised to find
ID: 89607 • Letter: O
Question
Octopuses are solitary animals as adults, so researchers were surprised to find that they can learn by imitation. Italian scientists placed a red and a white ball in the tank with each octopus and trained some of the octopuses to attack the red ball and others to attack the white ball by rewarding them with food. Then untrained octopuses were positioned in nearby tanks where they could see the trained octopuses performing. The untrained octopuses were then given red and white balls to see if they would attack the same colored balls as the octopuses they had watched. The observer octopuses not only chose the right ball, but they learned more quickly and made fewer mistakes when they learned by observation than did the octopuses that had been trained by trial and error by humans. Should this learning-by-observation be classified as insight or latent learning? What might its adaptive advantage be?Explanation / Answer
It is to be classified as Latent learning because it's not that the untrained octopuses were not able to attack the right ball but they just watched and proved their skills at the right time. Moreover, those untrained octopuses were no inferior to the trained ones. In fact, they proved to be better.
Latent learning implies that learning can take place without any behavioral changes being immediately present. This means that learning can be completely cognitive and not instilled through behavioral modification alone. This cognitive emphasis on learning was important in the development of cognitive psychology. Latent learning can be a form of observational learning.
The biggest advantage is that they can increase their chances of survival in their niche or environment.
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