### id260586720 spiders can be surprised > The scientists discovered that if *Portia* saw a different kind of prey after the shutter was lifted, it was far less likely to attack than if the prey remained the same. They assert that this shows that the spider [formed a mental representation](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3946049/) of the prey at the beginning of the trial that didn’t match what it saw at the end. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01fqd344ba22vhaekthkx360gn) - [[Spiders are Much Smarter than You Think by Betsy Mason#id260586720 spiders can be surprised|View in Vault]]