title: Modularity as a fish (Xenotoca eiseni) views it: conjoining geometric and nongeometric information for spatial reorientation.
abstract: When disoriented in a closed rectangular tank, fish (Xenotoca eiseni) reoriented in accord with the large-scale shape of the environment, but they were also able to conjoin geometric information with nongeometric properties such as the color of a wall or the features provided by panels located at the corners of the tank. Fish encoded geometric information even when featural information sufficed to solve the spatial task. When tested after transformations that altered the original arrangement of the panels, fish were more affected by those transformations that modified the geometric relationship between the target and the shape of the environment. Finally, fish appeared unable to use nongeometric information provided by distant panels. These findings show that a reorientation mechanism based on geometry is widespread among vertebrates, though the joint use of geometric and nongeometric cues by fish suggest that the degree of information encapsulation of the mechanism varies considerably between species.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Via Venezia 8, 35131 Padua, Italy. sovrano@mail.psy.unipd.it
authors.forename: Valeria Anna
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Sovrano
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bisazza
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vallortigara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003118:Color Perception; D004193:Discrimination Learning; D004215:Distance Perception; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009949:Orientation; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D011340:Problem Solving; D012737:Sex Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D013028:Space Perception