How Long Is A Guinea Pigs Memory
The first thing to understand about guinea pigs is that their memories can last for a long time. A guineapig’s memory is determined by how often they experience happiness and sadness. This makes it easier for you to handle a pet that is used to its normal routine. The degree of extremes in memory will also depend on the species of guinea pig. Guinea pigs tend to remember the positive experiences more than the negative ones.
Guinea pigs, despite their poor vision and hearing, are remarkably intelligent. This translates into the fact that they can learn certain words and commands. Food words, like “lunchtime”, will soon become associated with the food itself. So if you call your guinea pig “Lunchtime,” he will automatically start squeaking for his lunchtime treat.
Scientists tested the spatial memory of guinea-pigs in an experiment to see if they can remember and learn things. They then assessed their vocalizations and voice recognition abilities. They eventually found out who had murdered the baby. And the investigator identified the killer within an hour of looking at the guinea pig. The baby killer had no protection for the guinea-pig!
The researchers conducted the same experiments on wild and domestic guinea pigs. The results showed that domestic guinea-pigs were more agile than wild cavies. They also found no differences in the learning curves for escape latency and path length. The study also found that sex by domestication had no effect on the time spent in the correct quadrant in the water.
There are two types of memories for guinea-pigs: long-term and short-term. Guinea pigs’ short-term memory is good if they have positive experiences from their caregivers. These pigs are attached to their human companions and will recall your voice if spoken to.
Wild cavies are faster than domestic guinea-pigs in spatial learning, but they have better spatial skills. Wild cavies are not as sensitive to stress and can learn to find a hidden platform in a water maze. Domestic guineapigs are more suited to memory and learning studies, despite this. A test such as the Morris water maze can be used to determine how long guinea-pigs can remember a particular thing.
As you can see, guinea pigs’ short-term memory is only a few minutes. However, guineapigs’ long-term memories last for a longer period of time. As with humans, guinea pigs’ memory is much longer than that of rabbits. They are not smarter than cats or dogs, however. Unlike humans, cats and mice have more gray matter in their brains, and they are far more advanced.
