Abstract

DANERI, M. Florencia  and  MUZIO, Rubén N. Blocking and overshadowing in a phylogenetically ancient vertebrate group: amphibians. rev.latinoam.psicol. [online]. 2013, vol.45, n.2, pp.185-200. ISSN 0120-0534.

This article is a study of blocking and overshadowing phenomena in a spatial learning task tested in an amphibian, the common toad Rhinella arenarum. Both phenomena, previously observed in other vertebrates, are described for the first time in a group with a phylogenetically ancient brain - the amphibians. Specifically, it was observed during spatial learning: (1) blocking between visual cues associated to a goal, and (2) overshadowing of a distant visual cue by the presence of a nearby cue. This fact is a precedent for the study of the biological mechanisms that rules spatial learning, thereby looking for common functional patterns with other vertebrates, potentially present in a common ancestor.

Keywords : Spatial Learning; Overshadowing; Blocking Amphibians; Comparative Analysis.

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