Great tits show serial reversal learning in the perseverance phase but not in the new learning phase
(2026) In Animal Behaviour 231.- Abstract
An animal possessing reversal learning ability is capable of unlearning a previously learnt association between a stimulus and a reward and learning a new contingency. It is a form of behavioural flexibility, which can be advantageous in changing environments. Serial reversal learning occurs when an animal's performance improves over repeated reversals of contingencies. In this study, we tested the serial reversal learning ability of great tits, Parus major , in an aviary experiment where they could choose between two laterally positioned locations marked with different symbols. One of the two locations contained a hidden food reward, and the side that was rewarding and unrewarding was reversed several times for each bird. We divided... (More)
An animal possessing reversal learning ability is capable of unlearning a previously learnt association between a stimulus and a reward and learning a new contingency. It is a form of behavioural flexibility, which can be advantageous in changing environments. Serial reversal learning occurs when an animal's performance improves over repeated reversals of contingencies. In this study, we tested the serial reversal learning ability of great tits, Parus major , in an aviary experiment where they could choose between two laterally positioned locations marked with different symbols. One of the two locations contained a hidden food reward, and the side that was rewarding and unrewarding was reversed several times for each bird. We divided the learning process after each reversal into two phases, the perseverance phase and the new learning phase, quantified by the number of visits before and after the first visit to the newly rewarding location, respectively. We found that the length of the perseverance phase significantly decreased over repeated reversals. However, there was no corresponding decrease in the length of the new learning phase. This suggests that perseverance and new learning are separate cognitive processes and that the former may be less challenging than the latter. Initially, the birds also showed a colour preference for yellow over blue, but this did not affect their reversal learning ability. The high behavioural flexibility of great tits may help explain their success in exploiting challenging environments.
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- author
- Vincze, Ernő LU and Brodin, Anders LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- animal cognition, behavioural flexibility, Parus major, phenotypic plasticity
- in
- Animal Behaviour
- volume
- 231
- article number
- 123416
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105024336923
- ISSN
- 0003-3472
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123416
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Authors.
- id
- bfd8cc22-7d43-4958-a5e0-92fa1c8bd046
- date added to LUP
- 2026-03-31 13:28:30
- date last changed
- 2026-03-31 13:28:41
@article{bfd8cc22-7d43-4958-a5e0-92fa1c8bd046,
abstract = {{<p>An animal possessing reversal learning ability is capable of unlearning a previously learnt association between a stimulus and a reward and learning a new contingency. It is a form of behavioural flexibility, which can be advantageous in changing environments. Serial reversal learning occurs when an animal's performance improves over repeated reversals of contingencies. In this study, we tested the serial reversal learning ability of great tits, Parus major , in an aviary experiment where they could choose between two laterally positioned locations marked with different symbols. One of the two locations contained a hidden food reward, and the side that was rewarding and unrewarding was reversed several times for each bird. We divided the learning process after each reversal into two phases, the perseverance phase and the new learning phase, quantified by the number of visits before and after the first visit to the newly rewarding location, respectively. We found that the length of the perseverance phase significantly decreased over repeated reversals. However, there was no corresponding decrease in the length of the new learning phase. This suggests that perseverance and new learning are separate cognitive processes and that the former may be less challenging than the latter. Initially, the birds also showed a colour preference for yellow over blue, but this did not affect their reversal learning ability. The high behavioural flexibility of great tits may help explain their success in exploiting challenging environments.</p>}},
author = {{Vincze, Ernő and Brodin, Anders}},
issn = {{0003-3472}},
keywords = {{animal cognition; behavioural flexibility; Parus major; phenotypic plasticity}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Animal Behaviour}},
title = {{Great tits show serial reversal learning in the perseverance phase but not in the new learning phase}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123416}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.anbehav.2025.123416}},
volume = {{231}},
year = {{2026}},
}