The Ability of a Beluga Whale ( Delphinapterus leucas) to Discriminate Between Differentially
Rewarded Stimuli
Jennifer L. Dearolf
St. Mary's College of Maryland
 
      The purpose of this study was to determine if a captive beluga whale could transfer the
concept of one object being associated with a greater fish reward from one context to another,
and if so, how long it would take to learn to discriminate between objects associated with different
rewards. Objects distinctly different from those utilized for training and play toys were randomly
associated with fish rewards and were presented to the whale by a trainer. The criterion set for the
acquisition of the choice behavior was the selection of the object associated with the greater reward
ten times out of ten presentations. The whale achieved criterion for the final comparison after forty-
eight trials, ending with a cumulative percentage of 67%. The results of this study suggest that a
beluga whale can learn to transfer the concept of an object being associated with a greater reward
from one context to another.
 
St. Mary's College of Maryland Student Research Symposium
 

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