Final answer:
Cognitive learning in animals involves associating a behavior with its consequences, as seen with operant conditioning in a dolphin doing flips for food. Habituation is learning to ignore a repeated, inconsequential stimulus, while imprinting is a form of rapid learning for young animals to recognize caretakers.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cognitive Learning in Animals
When an animal is placed in a scenario it has never faced before and they are able to do something that results in something good happening, this demonstrates a form of cognitive learning.
Specifically, this can involve operant conditioning, where animals learn to associate a behavior with its consequences. For instance, a dolphin may learn to perform a flip when it hears a whistle because this behavior is followed by receiving a fish, reinforcing the behavior.
Another form of learning is habituation, where an animal stops responding to a repeated stimulus that is neither rewarding nor harmful, like prairie dogs becoming accustomed to human footfall sounds without sounding an alarm.
On the other hand, imprinting refers to a rapid learning process that happens at an early life stage, such as ducklings following the first moving object they see, which they identify as their mother.
These learning processes allow animals to adapt and survive in their environments by associating certain stimuli with behaviors, rewards, or lack of response due to familiarity, which can be critical to their survival.