What is the simplest organism that was observed to learn: change its behavior permanently in response to some event/stimuli in a way that this change persists even if the event does not happen again?
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3$\begingroup$ the real problem is defining and testing learning. $\endgroup$– JohnJan 21, 2017 at 1:44
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$\begingroup$ Judging from the first source brought by Bryan Krause, the definition I had in mind was associative learning. $\endgroup$– lioriJan 21, 2017 at 18:28
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$\begingroup$ which may be possible for even a single celled organism. Bryan Krause provided a good link to possible associative learning in amoebae. $\endgroup$– JohnJan 21, 2017 at 20:31
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I don't know if it is definitively the simplest, but the simplest organism with a nervous system that has been studied extensively is probably C. elegans, which is definitely able to learn.
Some basic learning abilities have also been shown in amoebae.
References:
Ardiel, E. L., & Rankin, C. H. (2010). An elegant mind: learning and memory in Caenorhabditis elegans. Learning & Memory, 17(4), 191-201.
Saigusa, T., Tero, A., Nakagaki, T., & Kuramoto, Y. (2008). Amoebae
anticipate periodic events. Physical review letters, 100(1), 018101.
answered Jan 20, 2017 at 23:21