Although the cognitive abilities of bony fishes have been intensely studied, until recently virtually nothing was known about the learning capacity of sharks. Sharks diverged from other groups over 400 million years ago, yet share critical aspects of brain organisation with all vertebrates. This early divergence of sharks from other vertebrates makes sharks an ideal model system to explore the evolution of cognition in vertebrates. The study of cognitive abilities and associative conditioning in elasmobranchs is also crucial given the growing global interest in the behavioural changes and learnt behaviours resulting from interactions with wildlife tourism. This study aims to investigate the cognitive abilities of sharks in relation to behavioural changes linked to wildlife tourism and shark feeding operations. This study will consist of four experimental set-ups. The laboratory-based experiments will first assess the time required for a shark to habituate to a single stimulus using attractants (olfaction, sound, electric field) and deterrents (magnetic and electric field). Secondly, the effects of reward size and training frequency on the time required to associate two distinct events will be investigated using an operant condition design. In the field, sharks will be trained to a feeding schedule to test whether they are able to associate time and place with food and the effects of such feeding regimes on their metabolic requirements. Finally, we will assess shark ability to categorise objects according to their relative position in the water. Understanding the cognitive capabilities of sharks will provide an insight into the mechanisms underpinning shark behaviour, and allow comparisons of the cognitive abilities of this understudied animal group with teleost fishes, insects, birds, and mammals. It will further provide information on the potential effects of wildlife tourism and shark provisioning on the behaviour and the energy requirements of sharks.