Place and cue learning in turtles

Turtles (Pseudemys scripta) were trained in place, cue, and control arm maze procedures. The turtles learned both tasks with accuracy. Subsequent probe and transfer trials revealed guidance and map ping strategies by the cue and the place groups, respectively. Thus, the turtles in the cue procedure solved their task by directly approaching the single individual intramaze cue associated with the goal, whereas the animals in the place task seemed to be using a maplike representation based on the encoding of simultaneous spatial relationships between the goal and the extramaze visual cues. Further more, the turtles in the place task were able to navigate with accuracy to the goal from unfamiliar start places, and their performance was resistant to a partial loss of relevant environmental information. The results reveal for the first time, to our knowledge, spatial learning and memory capabilities in a reptile that closely parallel those described in mammals and birds.