「暸解抽象概念」為一複雜且高階的認知能力，並一直被認為目前是只有人類或是在靈長動物、及鳥類等脊椎動物才擁有的能力。然而在2001年的研究發現，蜜蜂能夠經由訓練學習「相同」與「相異」的抽象概念，並能將此概念在不同的感知系統中互相轉換，該結果顯示，並非只有複雜神經系統的動物才能具有高階的認知功能。烏賊是軟體動物門、頭足綱中的一屬，有著高度分化的中樞神經系統與敏銳的視覺，且其行為十分仰賴視覺訊息。據此，本研究假設：如此依賴視覺且擁有遠比蜜蜂更加複雜之腦部構造的無脊椎動物，應有與靈長動物、鳥類及蜜蜂相近的認知能力。本研究以「延遲配對樣本法」 訓練及測試虎斑烏賊是否瞭解「相同」的抽象概念。實驗方式是讓烏賊對三維度迷宮的底部圖案進行選擇，並以迴避懲罰來進行制約，以訓練烏賊選擇牠先前看過的圖案。一旦烏賊達到學習標準，便會以全新一組圖案測驗烏賊是否能夠確實暸解「相同」的抽象概念。烏賊在訓練過程無達到學習標準，且對圖案的選擇是依據其天生的偏好來進行選擇。為確定烏賊能夠以「延遲配對樣本法」進行訓練，同一批烏賊以同樣的步驟進行，唯一的不同點在於控制組實驗當中，烏賊僅需要選擇與牠所偏好相反的圖案便不會被懲罰。控制組實驗結果顯示，僅一隻烏賊可以達到學習標準。而該烏賊在達到標準後，測驗其圖案偏好是否在控制組實驗中被改變，結果顯示，當烏賊在選圖案前若沒有事先看過圖案，則牠選擇的依據仍是基於其天生的圖案偏好。綜合以上結果，在現行的實驗條件下，無法驗證假說――烏賊有暸解「相同」的抽象概念的能力。但少數烏賊仍可以與其他動物 完成「延遲配對樣本」試驗顯示烏賊有工作記憶系統，且工作記憶系統對於烏賊的生存有著舉足輕重的必要性。

Concept formation has long been considered as a complex cognitive behavior that only exists in vertebrates, e.g., mammals and birds. But a previous study has shown that honeybees, an invertebrate with a simpler brain, also possess the ability of knowing the sameness and difference in visual and olfactory modalities. In the present study, we hypothesized that cuttlefish (Sepia pharaonis), a marine invertebrate with keen vision, complex central nervous system, and exhibiting sophisticated behaviors, share a great convergence of cognitive functions that are similar to those found in vertebrates and insects. To examine if cuttlefish could learn the concept of sameness, a 3-D maze was developed to apply the delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) paradigm. At the bottom part of the maze, cuttlefish were trained to match the same background pattern (secondary pattern) after seeing the pattern (primary pattern) at the upper part of the maze. The learning criterion, with statistical significance, was set to assess if cuttlefish were able to extract the rule of sameness through the training. Once cuttlefish reached the learning criterion, the transfer test was proceeded to exam if cuttlefish could apply the rule of sameness when they encountered a new pattern pair. Cuttlefish failed to reach the criterion in the training phase. Their choices to the background pattern were biased to their innate preferences. We conducted a control experiment to confirm the failure of training was not because cuttlefish were unable to succeed in the DMTS task. One out of five animals passed the criterion in the control experiment with only 23 trials, and this criterion-reached animal chose the background pattern according to its innate preference in absence of the primary pattern. Individual cuttlefish solving the DMTS task suggests that cuttlefish might be able to associate the background pattern with what they have seen previously, and this implies that cuttlefish possess the short-lasting memory, or the working memory. In summary, we conclude that cuttlefish are unable to learn the abstract concept under current experimental condition, but cuttlefish are able to solve the DMTS task and possess the visual working memory.

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