Decision-making, when humans and other animals choose between two options, is not always based on the absolute values of the options but can also depend on their relative values. The present study examines whether decision-making by cuttlefish is dependent on relative values learned from previous experience. Cuttlefish preferred a larger quantity when making a choice between one or two shrimps (1 versus 2) during a two-alternative forced choice. However, after cuttlefish were primed under conditions where they were given a small reward for choosing one shrimp in a no shrimp versus one shrimp test (0 versus 1) six times in a row, they chose one shrimp significantly more frequently in the 1 versus 2 test. This reversed preference for a smaller quantity was not due to satiation at the time of decision-making, as cuttlefish fed a small shrimp six times without any choice test prior to the experiment still preferred two shrimps significantly more often in a subsequent 1 versus 2 test. This suggests that the preference of one shrimp in the quantity comparison test occurs via a process of learned valuation. Foraging preference in cuttlefish thus depends on the relative value of previous prey choices.

当人类和其他动物在两个选项之间进行选择时，决策并不总是基于选项的绝对值，而是还可以取决于它们的相对值。本研究检验了墨鱼的决策是否依赖于从以前的经验中学到的相对价值。在两个替代选择中，在一个或两个虾（1对2）中进行选择时，墨鱼更喜欢大量。但是，在乌贼在一定条件下进行灌水处理后，如果他们连续六次从无虾中选择一只虾与一次虾测试（0比1）中获得少量奖励，他们在1比2中更频繁地选择一只虾测试。这种对较小数量的偏爱并不是由于决策时的满足感，由于乌贼在实验前没有进行任何选择测试的情况下喂了六只小虾，在随后的1对2测试中，他们仍然更倾向于选择两只虾。这表明在数量比较测试中对虾的偏爱是通过学习的评估过程实现的。因此，墨鱼的觅食偏好取决于先前猎物选择的相对价值。