What an Animal Cognition Researcher Who Did Not Think They Studied Occasion Setting Might Take Home From This Conversation

Marisa Hoeschele

Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences

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Abstract

As the editor for the Leising et al. (2025) target article and its affiliated commentaries and someone not normally engaged with occasion setting (OS), I have decided to share my insights on the topic’s broad relevance for the field of comparative cognition. First, OS may be a way to reframe problems that do not have simple associative explanations without leaving the associative learning framework behind. Second, working with multidimensional or nonlinear behavioral data may reflect that one is studying OS. Finally, identifying the strategy for solving an OS-like problem (combinatorial or hierarchical) may help one understand more about the ecological relevance of the particular problem and/or about the cognitive flexibility of the species being studied.

Keywords: occasion setting, comparative cognition, multidimensional behaviours, associative learning

Author Note: Marisa Hoeschele, Acoustics Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Wiesingerstrasse 4, AT-1010 Vienna, Austria

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Marisa Hoeschele at marisa.hoeschele@oeaw.ac.at.