Planarians have the basic brain structure of an animal and, like mammals, their brain produces a variety of neurotransmitters, suggesting that they have a learning and memory function. Based on a previous study (Chicas-Mossier & Abramson, 2015), six students in seminar of the 3rd year examined the effects of shaping in the acquisition of operant conditioning by planarians. Results indicated that planarians trained by shaping acquired operant conditioning earlier than planarians not trained by shaping and that training led them to display stable operant behavior. In contrast, planarians that were not trained by shaping were slow to acquire operant behavior and they did not display stable operant behavior. The current work compared the results of this experiment to those of previous studies and it discussed the possibility that the behavioral measures used to gauge operant behavior may differ depending on the protocol and the species of planaria used. Moreover, this work discussed the feasibility of introducing operant conditioning experiments with planarians in lessons such as seminars and laboratory classes.
BKK0004368 (561.5 kB)
