The lower learning proficiency observed according to all of these metrics is consistent with learning disability classically associated with Phelan-McDermid syndrome and other autism-associated disorders (Kolevzon et al., 2014), and furthermore generalizes known Shank3 KO deficits in operant conditioning (Bey et al., 2018), repetitive behaviors (X. Wang et al., 2016), and spatial learning and memory (Jaramillo et al., 2016, 2017) to more complex and ethological behaviors. This evidence concerns the gene SHANK3 and Phelan-McDermid syndrome.