Effects of Sex and Visual Cues on Behavior in Heterandria formosa

Social cognition, through processing information and forming decisions, plays a role in determining behavior. In this experiment, I studied cognition and decision-making in a livebearing fish, Heterandria formosa. This study expands current cognitive and behavioral research by examining the evolutionary forces of natural and sexual selection and how they influence decision-making. By using the detour test, I measured the completion times of male and female focal fish in response to same and opposite sex reward fish visual cues. If cognitive performance in H. formosa is influenced mainly through sexual selection, then treatments with opposite-sexed focal and reward fish would display faster problem-solving speeds when presented with the detour test. Whereas if same-sexed focal and reward fish display faster problem-solving speeds, then I hypothesize that cognitive performance is not moderated mainly by sexual selection. I found no significant difference between the solution speed demonstrated between focal males and females when in the presence of male reward fish during the detour test. However, I also found a significant decrease in the solving speed of focal females when in the presence of visual cues of a female reward fish. The findings indicate a stronger role of natural selection on cognitive performance. Further research could lead to insight into trade-offs between behavior and cognition.

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Grantor

Texas State University

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Tellez, Kayla

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gabor, Caitlin R.

Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember

• Saldivar, Yolitzi

• detour tests
• task solving
• social cognition
• cognitive performance

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10877/20191

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.library.txst.edu:10877/20191