title: Use of incidentally encoded memory from a single experience in cats.
abstract: We examined whether cats could retrieve and utilize incidentally encoded information from a single past event in a simple food-exploration task previously used for dogs (Fujita et al., 2012). In Experiment 1, cats were led to four open, baited containers and allowed to eat from two of them (Exposure phase). After a 15-min delay during which the cats were absent and all containers were replaced with empty ones, the cats were unexpectedly returned to the room and allowed to explore the containers (Test phase). Although the cats' first choice of container to visit was random, they explored containers from which they had not previously eaten for longer than those from which they did previously eat. In the Exposure phase of Experiment 2, two containers held food, one held a nonedible object, and the fourth was empty. Cats were allowed to eat from one of them. In the post-delay Test phase, the cats first visited the remaining baited-uneaten container significantly more often than chance and they spent more time exploring this container. Because the cats' behavior in the Test phase cannot be explained by association of the container with a pleasant experience (eating), the results suggest that cats retrieved and utilized "what" and "where" information from an incidentally encoded memory from a single experience.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan. Electronic address: takagi.saho.67x@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Saho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Mana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsuzuki
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chijiiwa
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Chiyoda, Tokyo 102-0083, Japan.
authors.forename: Minori
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arahori
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan; Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, Faculty of Letters, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage, Chiba 263-8522, Japan.
authors.forename: Arii
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8902, Japan; Department of Childhood Education, Musashino University, 41-1-20 Shinmachi, Nishitokyo-shi, Tokyo 202-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University, Yoshida-honmachi, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D061212:Memory, Episodic
keywords: Cats; Episodic memory; Felis catus; Incidental memory