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Berlinghieri F, Rizzuto G, Kruizinga L, Riedstra B, Groothuis T, Brown C. Are lateralized and bold fish optimistic or pessimistic? Anim Cogn 2024; 27:42. [PMID: 38833197 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01876-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 04/19/2024] [Accepted: 05/14/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
Cognitive bias is defined as the influence of emotions on cognitive processes. The concept of the cognitive judgement bias has its origins in human psychology but has been applied to animals over the past 2 decades. In this study we were interested in determining if laterality and personality traits, which are known to influence learning style, might also be correlated with a cognitive bias in the three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We used the judgement bias test with the go/no-go procedure where fish were first trained to discriminate between a black and white card and, after reaching a minimum learning criterion, tested their response to an ambiguous card (grey). Optimistic subjects were expected to have a high expectation of reward associated with an ambiguous stimulus, whereas pessimistic subjects a high expectation of non-reward. We used an emergence and a mirror test to quantify boldness and laterality, respectively. We hypothesised that male, bolder and more strongly lateralized fish would be more optimistic than female, shy and less strongly lateralised fish. We found that males and more strongly lateralized fish were more optimistic than females and less strongly lateralized fish. In addition, bold males were more optimistic than shy males as we predicted, but females showed the opposite pattern. Finally, fish trained on the black colour card learned the training task faster than those trained on a white card. Our results indicate that both laterality and personality traits are linked to animals' internal states (pessimistic or optimistic outlooks) which likely has broad implications for understanding animal behaviour particularly in a welfare context.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Berlinghieri
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747, AG, The Netherlands.
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia.
| | - G Rizzuto
- CoNISMa, Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Rome, Italy
| | - L Kruizinga
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747, AG, The Netherlands
| | - B Riedstra
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747, AG, The Netherlands
| | - Tgg Groothuis
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747, AG, The Netherlands
| | - C Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
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Food-caching chickadees do not exhibit directional bias when learning a spatial task. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03275-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Mack C, Uomini N. Modulation of behavioural laterality in wild New Caledonian crows ( Corvus moneduloides): Vocalization, age and function. Laterality 2022; 27:379-405. [PMID: 35833319 DOI: 10.1080/1357650x.2022.2098969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
The New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) is known for displaying a unique set of tool-related behaviours, with the bird's bill acting as an individually consistently lateralized effector. However, we still fail to understand how such laterality develops, is modulated or even if its expression is consistent across other behavioural categories. Creating the first ethogram for this species allowed us to examine laterality and vocalisations in a population of wild, free-flying New Caledonian crows using detailed analyses of close-up video footage. We revealed the existence of an overall strong left-sided bias during object manipulation only and which was driven by the adult crows of our focal population, the stabilization of individual preferences occurring during the birds' juvenile years. Individually, at least one crow showed consistent side biases to the right and left within different behavioural categories. Our findings highlight previously unknown variability in behavioural laterality in this species, thus advocating for further investigation. Specifically, we argue that a better understanding of the New Caledonian crow's biology and ecology is required if one wishes to pursue the promising comparative road that laterality could be connected to the evolution of tool-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cyrielle Mack
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Soravia C, Bisazza A, Cecere JG, Rubolini D. Extra food provisioning does not affect behavioural lateralization in nestling lesser kestrels. Curr Zool 2022; 69:66-75. [PMID: 36974149 PMCID: PMC10039179 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoac021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Costs and benefits of brain lateralization may depend on environmental conditions. Growing evidence indicates that the development of brain functional asymmetries is adaptively shaped by the environmental conditions experienced during early life. Food availability early in life could act as a proxy of the environmental conditions encountered during adulthood, but its potential modulatory effect on lateralization has received little attention. We increased food supply from egg laying to early nestling rearing in a wild population of lesser kestrels Falco naumanni, a sexually dimorphic raptor, and quantified the lateralization of preening behaviour (head turning direction). As more lateralized individuals may perform better in highly competitive contexts, we expected that extra food provisioning, by reducing the level of intra-brood competition for food, would reduce the strength of lateralization. We found that extra food provisioning improved nestling growth, but it did not significantly affect the strength or direction of nestling lateralization. In addition, maternal body condition did not explain variation in nestling lateralization. Independently of extra food provisioning, the direction of lateralization differed between the sexes, with female nestlings turning more often towards their right. Our findings indicate that early food availability does not modulate behavioural lateralization in a motor task, suggesting limited phenotypic plasticity in this trait.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camilla Soravia
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology (M092), University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Angelo Bisazza
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, via Venezia 8, Padova, I-35131, Italy
- Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Via Orus 2/B, Padova, I-35129, Italy
| | - Jacopo G Cecere
- ISPRA—The Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, via Cà Fornacetta 9, Ozzano dell'Emilia (, BO, I-40064, Italy, )
| | - Diego Rubolini
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 26, Milano, I-20133, Italy
- Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque, IRSA-CNR, Via del Mulino 19, Brugherio, MB, I-20861, Italy,
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