Behavioral flexibility is a type of phenotypic plasticity that can influence how animals cope with environmental change and is often measured with a reversal learning paradigm. The goal of this study was to understand why individuals differ in behavioral flexibility, and whether individual differences in behavioral flexibility fit the predictions of coping styles theory. We tested whether individual variation in flexibility correlates with response to novelty (response to a novel object), boldness (emergence into a novel environment), and behavioral persistence (response to a barrier), and tested for trade-offs between how quickly individuals learn an initial discrimination and flexibility. We compare results when reversal learning performance is measured during an early step of reversal learning (e.g. the number of errors during the first reversal session) to when reversal learning performance is measured by time to criterion. Individuals that made fewer mistakes during an early step of reversal learning spent more time away from the novel object, were less bold, less persistent, and performed worse during initial discrimination learning. In contrast, time to criterion was not correlated with any of the behaviors measured. This result highlights the utility of dissecting the steps of reversal learning to better understand variation in behavioral flexibility. Altogether, this study suggests that individuals differ in flexibility because flexibility is a key ingredient to their overall integrated strategy for coping with environmental challenges.

中文翻译：

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三轴棘背鱼逆向学习表现中个体差异的预测因子。

行为灵活性是一种表型可塑性，可以影响动物应对环境变化的方式，通常通过逆向学习范式进行衡量。这项研究的目的是了解为什么个体的行为灵活性不同，以及个体的行为灵活性差异是否符合应对方式理论的预测。我们测试了个体灵活性的变化是否与对新颖性（对新对象的响应），胆量（出现在新环境中）和行为持久性（对障碍的响应）的响应相关，并测试了个体学习速度之间的权衡最初的歧视和灵活性。当在逆向学习的早期阶段测量逆向学习表现时，我们会比较结果（例如 （第一次反向会话期间的错误数）到按标准衡量反向学习性能的时间。在逆向学习的早期步骤中犯错较少的人花费更多的时间远离新颖的对象，不那么大胆，不那么执着，在最初的歧视学习中表现较差。相反，达到标准的时间与所测量的任何行为均不相关。该结果突出了剖析逆向学习步骤的作用，以更好地理解行为灵活性的变化。总而言之，这项研究表明个人的灵活性有所不同，因为灵活性是他们应对环境挑战的整体综合策略的关键要素。在逆向学习的早期步骤中犯错较少的人花费更多的时间远离新颖的对象，不那么大胆，不那么执着，在最初的歧视学习中表现较差。相反，达到标准的时间与所测量的任何行为均不相关。该结果突出了剖析逆向学习步骤的作用，以更好地理解行为灵活性的变化。总而言之，这项研究表明个人的灵活性有所不同，因为灵活性是他们应对环境挑战的整体综合策略的关键要素。在逆向学习的早期步骤中犯错较少的人花费更多的时间远离新颖的对象，不那么大胆，不那么执着，在最初的歧视学习中表现较差。相反，达到标准的时间与所测量的任何行为均不相关。该结果突出了剖析逆向学习步骤的作用，以更好地理解行为灵活性的变化。总而言之，这项研究表明个人的灵活性有所不同，因为灵活性是他们应对环境挑战的整体综合策略的关键要素。达到标准的时间与所测量的任何行为均不相关。该结果突出了剖析逆向学习步骤的效用，以更好地理解行为灵活性的变化。总而言之，这项研究表明个人的灵活性有所不同，因为灵活性是他们应对环境挑战的整体综合策略的关键要素。达到标准的时间与所测量的任何行为均不相关。该结果突出了剖析逆向学习步骤的作用，以更好地理解行为灵活性的变化。总而言之，这项研究表明个人的灵活性有所不同，因为灵活性是他们应对环境挑战的整体综合策略的关键要素。