Eight Armed Memory Machines

Octopi: The Eight Armed Memory Machines  
Gillian Jackson 

         While it is widely known that octopi and several other species from the class Cephalopoda contain above average cognition for animals of their size you can not help but wonder if they possess things that we as humans hold dear to our hearts. These things include abstract concepts (such as identifying shapes that have been rotated) and simple memory. To understand how complex an octopuses thinking is we first how to look at how complex their brain is. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLkKiVIBxXU

    With such a large brain to body ratio, there has to be something more intricate going on right? Turns out they actually have the ability to use long-term memory. An experiment was conducted to test this where an octopus was trained to attack a white ball as a reward, then experiments taught them to avoid a red ball that was dropped in the tank. After a day or two, they would drop the red ball in the tank and to their delight they see that the octopus avoids the ball. Below is a (very blurry) video of the experiment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_QyqR7_oZk

    Not only that but they can also recall memories when needed. In an experiment done by Hvorecny et al. (2007), two mazes were created to test how efficiently the octopus could navigate different environments. As soon as it found the best route it would be switched to the other maze. To the experimenter's amazement, the octopus was able to find its way through both mazes even if it spent an extended period of time in one of the mazes. That's like if you were to learn two different corn mazes on the same day, then had to remember how to get out of each one as you are switched between the mazes. Now that does not sound too easy! 

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rX-YiYHahoo/maxresdefault.jpg

      The incredible brain of the octopus is even able to grasp an abstract concept such as symbols and shapes. In the late 1950s, Oxford biologist N.S. Sutherland trained octopi to recognize the simple shape of a rectangle laying horizontally. He would then manipulate the rectangle by rotating it 90 degrees and see if the octopus could still recognize it. Simpler animals would have no idea that it was the same shape but the octopi passed with flying colors. Another test of octopus intelligence wondered if they could recognize symbols and make connections about said symbol. Go to 3:28 in the video below and you can see that after being shown the cross and then the food the octopus correctly went for the flap that had the cross on it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1bxBmJAAJE&t=209s

     Of course, the intelligence of octopi and other cephalopods cannot accurately be compared to humans, they are still highly intricate creatures that warrant the shock and awe they often get. As far as sea creatures go, they are at the top of the chain. In fact, their amazing brains developed these concepts even before we walked the earth! These eight armed beauties and their relatives are truly something that we will continue marveling at for ages.

References 

Hvorecny, L. M., Grudowski, J. L., Blakeslee, C. J., Simmons, T. L., Roy, P. R., Brooks, J. A., . . . Boal, J. G. (2007). Octopuses (Octopus bimaculoides) 

           and cuttlefishes (Sepia pharaonis, S. officinalis) can conditionally discriminate. Animal Cognition,10(4), 449-459. doi:10.1007/s10071-007-0085-4

Zimmer, C. (2008, June 20). How smart is the octopus? Retrieved September 25, 2017, from              

            http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2008/06/how_smart_is_the_octopus.html