Cuttlefish see, cuttlefish do?

The common saying, “monkey see, monkey do” is attributed to observational learning. Observational learning is learning through observing another organism’s behavior. Humans tend to do so as they are growing up. If you see a person touch the hot stove and get burned, you’ll know not to touch the hot stove (at least some will). It will save you the energy and potential danger of trying it for yourself. Some Cephalopods (octopus, squid and cuttlefish) are known to express similar learning techniques; given the advantages of this social learning technique. However, not all Cephalopods part-take in observational learning. Sepia pharaonis, or cuttlefish, have not expressed observational learning characteristics. This was hard to believe for scientists Kuan-Ling Huang and Chuan-Chin Chiao. Why wouldn’t cuttlefish want to learn from one another’s mistakes, and save themselves from the potential problems?

Kuan-Ling Huang and Chuan-Chin Chiao tested three groups of cuttlefish. The study aimed reevaluate the cuttlefishes’ observational learning potential when faced with threatening conditions. There was a control group, an Experiencer group, and an Observer group. During a training phase of the experiment, a toy submarine was made to be a threat to the Experiencer cuttlefish. In the observer group the cuttlefish were released in a tank with two submarines. They were allowed to swim to either direction. Then, on the other side (separated by clear glass) a demonstrator conspecific was made to have a threat-place association with the observers preferred side. All while the observer was able to see through the transparent divider. In the control group the observer saw no threat-place association be made. If the cuttlefish spent more time in it’s safe space after being exposed to the trained observer, this would suggest that threat-absence was used to probe learning.

In the end, cuttlefish showed no evidence of observational learning. There was however, more evidence showing individual learning potential. Furthermore, learning evidence varied among individuals. Characteristics varying throughout an individual organisms has been previously noted in other Cephalopods, such as the octopus. A main take away from the article was the action of the ‘real-world’ scientific method taking place. Other researchers had tested the similar hypothesis on cuttlefish. Kuan-Ling Huang and Chuan-Chin Chiao reevaluated their results because it did not make logical sense that an organism would not part-take in an energy saving action. However, the hypothesis (regard cuttlefish and observational learning) was only made stronger, leaving room for further studies.

Huang, K., & Chiao, C. (2013). Can cuttlefish learn by observing others?. Animal Cognition, 16(3), 313-320.