Abstract

Predation pressure is an important selection pressure that shapes prey morphology, life history and behaviours. Long-term exposure to high predation risk is known to shape learning, but the effects of short-term exposure to high predation risk on learning are less understood. Short-term exposure to elevated predation risk (using conspecific alarm cues) induces neophobia, which can have direct survival benefits for prey. Neophobia is also naturally occurring in certain wild populations, and is known to shape foraging related learning. However, the effects of risk induced neophobia on foraging related learning are unknown. The aim of this thesis was to examine the effects of short-term exposure to elevated predation risk on the learning of a novel foraging task. I designed an experiment where wild caught Trinidadian guppies were exposed to different background levels of predation risk. They were subsequently trained to associate a food reward with a coloured object over 4 days, during which they received acute risk reinforcement stimuli. Results show that background risk had no effect on the learning of the novel foraging task. Both high and low predation risk treatments learned the foraging task equally well. However, while acute risk did constrain learning, it did not inhibit it. No evidence was found that the learned association could be generalized across contexts. However, a significant side bias in the data, where the right side of the tank was preferred over the left, prevented any firm conclusions. Future studies might disentangle the effects of short-term background risk and acute risk on the learning of a novel foraging task.