1
|
Miller R, Davies JR, Schiestl M, Garcia-Pelegrin E, Gray RD, Taylor AH, Clayton NS. Social influences on delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289197. [PMID: 38055711 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-control underlies goal-directed behaviour in humans and other animals. Delayed gratification - a measure of self-control - requires the ability to tolerate delays and/or invest more effort to obtain a reward of higher value over one of lower value, such as food or mates. Social context, in particular, the presence of competitors, may influence delayed gratification. We adapted the 'rotating-tray' paradigm, where subjects need to forgo an immediate, lower-quality (i.e. less preferred) reward for a delayed, higher-quality (i.e. more preferred) one, to test social influences on delayed gratification in two corvid species: New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays. We compared choices for immediate vs. delayed rewards while alone, in the presence of a competitive conspecific and in the presence of a non-competitive conspecific. We predicted that, given the increased risk of losing a reward with a competitor present, both species would similarly, flexibly alter their choices in the presence of a conspecific compared to when alone. We found that species differed: jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward than the crows. We also found that jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward when a competitor or non-competitor was present than when alone, or when a competitor was present compared to a non-competitor, while the crows selected the delayed, highly preferred reward irrespective of social presence. We discuss our findings in relation to species differences in socio-ecological factors related to adult sociality and food-caching (storing). New Caledonian crows are more socially tolerant and moderate cachers, while Eurasian jays are highly territorial and intense cachers that may have evolved under the social context of cache pilfering and cache protection strategies. Therefore, flexibility (or inflexibility) in delay of gratification under different social contexts may relate to the species' social tolerance and related risk of competition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rachael Miller
- School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - James R Davies
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Martina Schiestl
- Faculty for Veterinary Medicine, University of Veterinary Science, Brno, South Moravia, Czech Republic
| | | | - Russell D Gray
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Max Planck Society, Jena, Germany
| | - Alex H Taylor
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Moser C, Buckner W, Sarian M, Winking J. Aggressive Mimicry and the Evolution of the Human Cognitive Niche. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2023; 34:456-475. [PMID: 37672174 PMCID: PMC10543935 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09458-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 09/07/2023]
Abstract
The evolutionary origins of deception and its functional role in our species is a major focus of research in the science of human origins. Several hypotheses have been proposed for its evolution, often packaged under either the Social Brain Hypothesis, which emphasizes the role that the evolution of our social systems may have played in scaffolding our cognitive traits, and the Foraging Brain Hypothesis, which emphasizes how changes in the human dietary niche were met with subsequent changes in cognition to facilitate foraging of difficult-to-acquire foods. Despite substantive overlap, these hypotheses are often presented as competing schools of thought, and there have been few explicitly proposed theoretical links unifying the two. Utilizing cross-cultural data gathered from the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF), we identify numerous (n = 357) examples of the application of deception toward prey across 145 cultures. By comparing similar behaviors in nonhuman animals that utilize a hunting strategy known as aggressive mimicry, we suggest a potential pathway through which the evolution of deception may have taken place. Rather than deception evolving as a tactic for deceiving conspecifics, we suggest social applications of deception in humans could have evolved from an original context of directing these behaviors toward prey. We discuss this framework with regard to the evolution of other mental traits, including language, Theory of Mind, and empathy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cody Moser
- Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced, Merced, CA, USA.
| | - William Buckner
- Human Systems and Behavior Lab, Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Melina Sarian
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Jeffrey Winking
- Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Martin RJ, Sherry DF. Canada jays, Perisoreus canadensis, use multiple context-dependent cache protection strategies. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.08.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
|
4
|
Parishar P, Mohapatra AN, Iyengar S. Investigating Behavioral Responses to Mirrors and the Mark Test in Adult Male Zebra Finches and House Crows. Front Psychol 2021; 12:637850. [PMID: 33935888 PMCID: PMC8082158 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637850] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Earlier evidence suggests that besides humans, some species of mammals and birds demonstrate visual self-recognition, assessed by the controversial “mark” test. Whereas, there are high levels of inter-individual differences amongst a single species, some species such as macaques and pigeons which do not spontaneously demonstrate mirror self-recognition (MSR) can be trained to do so. We were surprised to discover that despite being widely used as a model system for avian research, the performance of zebra finches (Taenopygia guttata) on the mark test had not been studied earlier. Additionally, we studied the behavioral responses of another species of passerine songbirds (Indian house crows; Corvus splendens) to a mirror and the MSR mark test. Although a small number of adult male zebra finches appeared to display heightened responses toward the mark while observing their reflections, we could not rule out the possibility that these were a part of general grooming rather than specific to the mark. Furthermore, none of the house crows demonstrated mark-directed behavior or increased self-exploratory behaviors when facing mirrors. Our study suggests that self-directed behaviors need to be tested more rigorously in adult male zebra finches while facing their reflections and these findings need to be replicated in a larger population, given the high degree of variability in mirror-directed behaviors.
Collapse
|
5
|
Same/different concept learning by primates and birds. Learn Behav 2021; 49:76-84. [PMID: 33742425 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-020-00456-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Same/different abstract-concept learning experiments were conducted with two primate species and three avian species by progressively increasing the size of the training stimulus set of distinctly different pictures from eight to 1,024 pictures. These same/different learning experiments were trained with two pictures presented simultaneously. Transfer tests of same and different learning employed interspersed trials of novel pictures to assess the level of correct performance on the very first time of subjects had seen those pictures. All of the species eventually performed these tests with high accuracy, contradicting the long-accepted notion that nonhuman animals are unable to learn the concept of same/different. Capuchin and rhesus monkeys learned the concept more readily than did pigeons. Clark's nutcrackers and black-billed magpies learned as readily as monkeys, and even showed a slight advantage with the smallest training stimulus sets. Those tests of same/different learning were followed by delay procedures, such that a delay was introduced after the subjects responded to the sample picture and before the test picture. In the sequential same/different task, accuracy was shown to diminish when the stimulus on a previous trial matched the test picture previously shown on a different trial. This effect is known as proactive interference. The pigeons' proactive interference was greater at 10-s delays than 1-s delays, revealing time-based interference. By contrast, time delays had little or no effect on rhesus monkeys' proactive interference, suggesting that rhesus monkeys have better explicit memory of where and when they saw the potential interfering picture, revealing better event-based memory.
Collapse
|
6
|
Conspecific presence, but not pilferage, influences pinyon jays' (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) caching behavior. Learn Behav 2020; 49:23-35. [PMID: 33269437 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-020-00450-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Caching species store food when plentiful to ensure availability when resources are scarce. These stores may be at risk of pilferage by others present at the time of caching. Cachers may reduce the risk of loss by using information from the social environment to engage in behaviors to secure the resource-cache protection strategies. Here, we examined whether pinyon jays, a highly social corvid, use information from the social environment to modify their caching behavior. Pinyon jays were provided with pine seeds to cache in two visually distinct trays. The cacher could be observed by a non-pilfering conspecific, a pilfering conspecific, or an inanimate heterospecific located in an adjoining cage compartment, or the cacher could be alone. After caching, the pilfered tray was placed in the adjoining compartment where caches were either pilfered (pilfering conspecific and inanimate heterospecific conditions) or remained intact (non-pilfering conspecific and alone conditions). The safe tray was placed in a visible, but inaccessible, location. Overall, pinyon jays reduced the number of pine seeds cached in the pilfered tray when observed, compared with caching alone. However, their caching behavior did not differ between the pilfering conspecific and the non-pilfering conspecific conditions. These results suggest that either pinyon jays were unable to discriminate between the pilfering and non-pilfering conspecifics, or they generalized their experience of risk from the pilfering conspecific to the non-pilfering conspecific. Thus, we report evidence that pinyon jays use cache protection strategies to secure their resources when observed, but respond similarly when observed by pilfering and non-pilfering conspecifics.
Collapse
|
7
|
Linking ecology and cognition: does ecological specialisation predict cognitive test performance? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-020-02923-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
AbstractVariation in cognitive abilities is thought to be linked to variation in brain size, which varies across species with either social factors (Social Intelligence Hypothesis) or ecological challenges (Ecological Intelligence Hypothesis). However, the nature of the ecological processes invoked by the Ecological Intelligence Hypothesis, like adaptations to certain habitat characteristics or dietary requirements, remains relatively poorly known. Here, we review comparative studies that experimentally investigated interspecific variation in cognitive performance in relation to a species’ degree of ecological specialisation. Overall, the relevant literature was biased towards studies of mammals and birds as well as studies focusing on ecological challenges related to diet. We separated ecological challenges into those related to searching for food, accessing a food item and memorising food locations. We found interspecific variation in cognitive performance that can be explained by adaptations to different foraging styles. Species-specific adaptations to certain ecological conditions, like food patch distribution, characteristics of food items or seasonality also broadly predicted variation in cognitive abilities. A species’ innovative problem-solving and spatial processing ability, for example, could be explained by its use of specific foraging techniques or search strategies, respectively. Further, habitat generalists were more likely to outperform habitat specialists. Hence, we found evidence that ecological adaptations and cognitive performance are linked and that the classification concept of ecological specialisation can explain variation in cognitive performance only with regard to habitat, but not dietary specialisation.
Collapse
|
8
|
Vernouillet A, Kelly DM. Individual exploratory responses are not repeatable across time or context for four species of food-storing corvid. Sci Rep 2020; 10:394. [PMID: 31941921 PMCID: PMC6962162 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56138-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Exploration is among one of the most studied of animal personality traits (i.e., individual-level behavioural responses repeatable across time and contexts). However, not all species show clear evidence of this personality trait, and this is particularly so for members of the Corvidae family. We assessed the exploratory behaviour of four food-caching corvid species: pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana), California scrub jays (Aphelocoma californica), and black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia). Contextual repeatability was assessed through examining behavioural measures during the Novel Environment task and the Novel Object task, whereas temporal repeatability was assessed by examining changes in these measures over repeated trials. Our results suggest that, for corvids, an individual's exploratory behaviour was not repeatable across contexts or over time. Hence, we found no evidence that exploration constitutes a personality trait for these species of corvid. We did find differences in exploratory behaviour, at a species level, that may be explained by relative reliance on cached food.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alizée Vernouillet
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Debbie M Kelly
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. .,Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Clary D, Stow MK, Vernouillet A, Kelly DM. Mirror‐mediated responses of California scrub jays (
Aphelocoma californica
) during a caching task and the mark test. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dawson Clary
- Department of Psychology University of Manitoba Winnipeg MB Canada
| | - Meara K. Stow
- Department of Psychology University of Manitoba Winnipeg MB Canada
| | - Alizée Vernouillet
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg MB Canada
| | - Debbie M. Kelly
- Department of Psychology University of Manitoba Winnipeg MB Canada
- Department of Biological Sciences University of Manitoba Winnipeg MB Canada
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Krupenye C, Call J. Theory of mind in animals: Current and future directions. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2019; 10:e1503. [DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2018] [Revised: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/09/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Josep Call
- School of Psychology & Neuroscience University of St Andrews St Andrews UK
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Kelly DM, Bisbing TA, Magnotti JF. Use of medial axis for reorientation by the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). Behav Processes 2018; 158:192-199. [PMID: 30508564 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.11.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2018] [Revised: 11/29/2018] [Accepted: 11/30/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Many animals are challenged with the task of reorientation. Considerable research over the years has shown a diversity of species extract geometric information (e.g., distance and direction) from continuous surfaces or boundaries to reorient. How this information is extracted from the environment is less understood. Three encoding strategies that have received the most study are the use of principal axes, medial axis or local geometric cues. We used a modeling approach to investigate which of these three general strategies best fit the spatial search data of a highly-spatial corvid, the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). Individual nutcrackers were trained in a rectangular-shaped arena, and once accurately locating a hidden goal, received non-reinforced tests in an L-shaped arena. The specific shape of this arena allowed us to dissociate among the three general encoding strategies. Furthermore, we reanalyzed existing data from chicks, pigeons and humans using our modeling approach. Overall, we found the most support for the use of the medial axis, although we additionally found that pigeons and humans may have engaged in random guessing. As with our previous studies, we find no support for the use of principal axes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Debbie M Kelly
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada.
| | - Teagan A Bisbing
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, 190 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, MB, R3T 2N2, Canada.
| | - John F Magnotti
- Department of Neurosurgery, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Pesendorfer MB, Koenig WD. Does aggression avoidance drive oak tree attendance by corvid scatter-hoarders? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-018-2498-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
13
|
Brecht KF, Ostojić L, Legg EW, Clayton NS. Difficulties when using video playback to investigate social cognition in California scrub-jays ( Aphelocoma californica). PeerJ 2018; 6:e4451. [PMID: 29576946 PMCID: PMC5857174 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2017] [Accepted: 02/13/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous research has suggested that videos can be used to experimentally manipulate social stimuli. In the present study, we used the California scrub-jays' cache protection strategies to assess whether video playback can be used to simulate conspecifics in a social context. In both the lab and the field, scrub-jays are known to exhibit a range of behaviours to protect their caches from potential pilferage by a conspecific, for example by hiding food in locations out of the observer's view or by re-caching previously made caches once the observer has left. Here, we presented scrub-jays with videos of a conspecific observer as well as two non-social conditions during a caching period and assessed whether they would cache out of the observer's "view" (Experiment 1) or would re-cache their caches once the observer was no longer present (Experiment 2). In contrast to previous studies using live observers, the scrub-jays' caching and re-caching behaviour was not influenced by whether the observer was present or absent. These findings suggest that there might be limitations in using video playback of social agents to mimic real-life situations when investigating corvid decision making.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Katharina F Brecht
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.,Institute of Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ljerka Ostojić
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Edward W Legg
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Examination of long-term visual memorization capacity in the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). Psychon Bull Rev 2018; 25:2274-2280. [PMID: 29450792 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-018-1439-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Clark's nutcrackers exhibit remarkable cache recovery behavior, remembering thousands of seed locations over the winter. No direct laboratory test of their visual memory capacity, however, has yet been performed. Here, two nutcrackers were tested in an operant procedure used to measure different species' visual memory capacities. The nutcrackers were incrementally tested with an ever-expanding pool of pictorial stimuli in a two-alternative discrimination task. Each picture was randomly assigned to either a right or a left choice response, forcing the nutcrackers to memorize each picture-response association. The nutcrackers' visual memorization capacity was estimated at a little over 500 pictures, and the testing suggested effects of primacy, recency, and memory decay over time. The size of this long-term visual memory was less than the approximately 800-picture capacity established for pigeons. These results support the hypothesis that nutcrackers' spatial memory is a specialized adaptation tied to their natural history of food-caching and recovery, and not to a larger long-term, general memory capacity. Furthermore, despite millennia of separate and divergent evolution, the mechanisms of visual information retention seem to reflect common memory systems of differing capacities across the different species tested in this design.
Collapse
|
15
|
Clary D, Kelly DM. Clark's Nutcrackers ( Nucifraga columbiana) Flexibly Adapt Caching Behavior to a Cooperative Context. Front Psychol 2016; 7:1643. [PMID: 27826273 PMCID: PMC5078760 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01643] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 10/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Corvids recognize when their caches are at risk of being stolen by others and have developed strategies to protect these caches from pilferage. For instance, Clark's nutcrackers will suppress the number of caches they make if being observed by a potential thief. However, cache protection has most often been studied using competitive contexts, so it is unclear whether corvids can adjust their caching in beneficial ways to accommodate non-competitive situations. Therefore, we examined whether Clark's nutcrackers, a non-social corvid, would flexibly adapt their caching behaviors to a cooperative context. To do so, birds were given a caching task during which caches made by one individual were reciprocally exchanged for the caches of a partner bird over repeated trials. In this scenario, if caching behaviors can be flexibly deployed, then the birds should recognize the cooperative nature of the task and maintain or increase caching levels over time. However, if cache protection strategies are applied independent of social context and simply in response to cache theft, then cache suppression should occur. In the current experiment, we found that the birds maintained caching throughout the experiment. We report that males increased caching in response to a manipulation in which caches were artificially added, suggesting the birds could adapt to the cooperative nature of the task. Additionally, we show that caching decisions were not solely due to motivational factors, instead showing an additional influence attributed to the behavior of the partner bird.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dawson Clary
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg MB, Canada
| | - Debbie M Kelly
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg MB, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Graded Mirror Self-Recognition by Clark's Nutcrackers. Sci Rep 2016; 6:36459. [PMID: 27811974 PMCID: PMC5095562 DOI: 10.1038/srep36459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2016] [Accepted: 10/14/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The traditional ‘mark test’ has shown some large-brained species are capable of mirror self-recognition. During this test a mark is inconspicuously placed on an animal’s body where it can only be seen with the aid of a mirror. If the animal increases the number of actions directed to the mark region when presented with a mirror, the animal is presumed to have recognized the mirror image as its reflection. However, the pass/fail nature of the mark test presupposes self-recognition exists in entirety or not at all. We developed a novel mirror-recognition task, to supplement the mark test, which revealed gradation in the self-recognition of Clark’s nutcrackers, a large-brained corvid. To do so, nutcrackers cached food alone, observed by another nutcracker, or with a regular or blurry mirror. The nutcrackers suppressed caching with a regular mirror, a behavioural response to prevent cache theft by conspecifics, but did not suppress caching with a blurry mirror. Likewise, during the mark test, most nutcrackers made more self-directed actions to the mark with a blurry mirror than a regular mirror. Both results suggest self-recognition was more readily achieved with the blurry mirror and that self-recognition may be more broadly present among animals than currently thought.
Collapse
|
17
|
Legg EW, Ostojić L, Clayton NS. Caching at a distance: a cache protection strategy in Eurasian jays. Anim Cogn 2016; 19:753-8. [PMID: 26984123 PMCID: PMC4891366 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-0972-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2015] [Revised: 02/08/2016] [Accepted: 03/02/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
A fundamental question about the complexity of corvid social cognition is whether behaviours exhibited when caching in front of potential pilferers represent specific attempts to prevent cache loss (cache protection hypothesis) or whether they are by-products of other behaviours (by-product hypothesis). Here, we demonstrate that Eurasian jays preferentially cache at a distance when observed by conspecifics. This preference for a ‘far’ location could be either a by-product of a general preference for caching at that specific location regardless of the risk of cache loss or a by-product of a general preference to be far away from conspecifics due to low intra-species tolerance. Critically, we found that neither by-product account explains the jays’ behaviour: the preference for the ‘far’ location was not shown when caching in private or when eating in front of a conspecific. In line with the cache protection hypothesis we found that jays preferred the distant location only when caching in front of a conspecific. Thus, it seems likely that for Eurasian jays, caching at a distance from an observer is a specific cache protection strategy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Edward W Legg
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
| | - Ljerka Ostojić
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Tornick JK, Rushia SN, Gibson BM. Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) are sensitive to distance, but not lighting when caching in the presence of a conspecific. Behav Processes 2016; 123:125-33. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2015.10.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2015] [Revised: 10/30/2015] [Accepted: 10/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
19
|
Vernouillet A, Anderson J, Clary D, Kelly DM. Inhibition in Clark’s nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana): results of a detour-reaching test. Anim Cogn 2016; 19:661-5. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-0952-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2015] [Revised: 01/08/2016] [Accepted: 01/11/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
|
20
|
|
21
|
Abstract
This article reviews some of the recent work on the remarkable cognitive capacities of food-caching corvids. The focus will be on their ability to think about other minds and other times, and tool-using tests of physical problem solving. Research on developmental cognition suggests that young children do not pass similar tests until they are at least four years of age in the case of the social cognition experiments, and eight years of age in the case of the tasks that tap into physical cognition. This developmental trajectory seems surprising. Intuitively, one might have thought that the social and planning tasks required more complex forms of cognitive process, namely Mental Time Travel and Theory of Mind. Perhaps the fact that children pass these tasks earlier than the physical problem-solving tasks is a reflection of cultural influences. Future research will hope to identify these cognitive milestones by starting to develop tasks that might go some way towards understanding the mechanisms underlying these abilities in both children and corvids, to explore similarities and differences in their ways of thinking.
Collapse
|
22
|
Zhang H, Steele MA, Zhang Z, Wang W, Wang Y. Rapid sequestration and recaching by a scatter-hoarding rodent (Sciurotamias davidianus). J Mammal 2014. [DOI: 10.1644/13-mamm-a-178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
|
23
|
Clary D, Kelly DM. Are Clark's Nutcrackers (Nucifraga Columbiana) Able to Discriminate Knowledge States of Human Experimenters during an Object-Choice Task? EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.1177/147470491301100310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Corvids and primates have been shown to possess similar cognitive adaptations, yet these animals are seldom tested using similar procedures. Object-choice tasks, which have commonly been used to test whether an animal is able to infer the mental state of a human experimenter based on a gestural cue, provide one potential means of testing these animals using a similar paradigm. The current study used an object-choice task to examine whether the corvid, Clark's nutcracker ( Nucifraga columbiana), is able to use a cognitive strategy to discriminate between the knowledge states of two human experimenters. One experimenter was informed, and the other uninformed, as to the location of a food reward hidden inside one of two opaque containers. During the Uninformed Gesture condition, the nutcrackers were given probe tests during which only the person performing as the uninformed experimenter provided a gesture. Thus, the nutcrackers could not use the experimenter's gesture to reliably find the food. During the Gesture Conflict condition, the nutcrackers were presented with a cue conflict. During probe tests, both the informed and the uninformed experimenter gestured to separate containers. Thus, to find the food the nutcrackers had to use the gesture from the informed experimenter and refrain from using the gesture of the uninformed experimenter. Our results showed that when the uninformed experimenter's gesture was presented alone, the birds continued to follow the gesture even though it was not consistently predictive of the food's location. However, when provided with two conflicting gestures, as a group the nutcrackers responded to the gesture of the informed experimenter at above chance levels. These results suggest that the birds had learned that the gesture was informative, perhaps by associative learning, yet when this mechanism was not reliable the nutcrackers were able to use either the human experimenters' presence/absence during the baiting process, or possibly their knowledge states, to determine which gesture to rely upon.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dawson Clary
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| | - Debbie M. Kelly
- Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Abstract
Complex social life has been proposed as one of the main driving forces for the evolution of higher cognitive abilities in humans and non-human animals. Until recently, this theory has been tested mainly on mammals/primates, whereas little attention has been paid to birds. Indeed, birds provide a challenge to the theory, on one hand because they show high flexibility in group formation and composition, on the other hand because monogamous breeding pairs are the main unit of social structure in many species. Here I illustrate that non-breeding ravens Corvus corax engage in sophisticated social interactions during foraging and conflict management. While Machiavellian-type skills are found in competition for hidden food, the formation and use of valuable relationships (social bonds) seem to be key in dealing with others in daily life. I thus argue that ravens represent a promising case for testing the idea that sophisticated social cognition may evolve in systems with a given degree of social complexity, independently of phylogeny.
Collapse
|
25
|
Shaw RC, Clayton NS. Eurasian jays, Garrulus glandarius, flexibly switch caching and pilfering tactics in response to social context. Anim Behav 2012. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2012.08.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
|
26
|
van der Vaart E, Verbrugge R, Hemelrijk CK. Corvid re-caching without 'theory of mind': a model. PLoS One 2012; 7:e32904. [PMID: 22396799 PMCID: PMC3291480 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2011] [Accepted: 02/02/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Scrub jays are thought to use many tactics to protect their caches. For instance, they predominantly bury food far away from conspecifics, and if they must cache while being watched, they often re-cache their worms later, once they are in private. Two explanations have been offered for such observations, and they are intensely debated. First, the birds may reason about their competitors' mental states, with a 'theory of mind'; alternatively, they may apply behavioral rules learned in daily life. Although this second hypothesis is cognitively simpler, it does seem to require a different, ad-hoc behavioral rule for every caching and re-caching pattern exhibited by the birds. Our new theory avoids this drawback by explaining a large variety of patterns as side-effects of stress and the resulting memory errors. Inspired by experimental data, we assume that re-caching is not motivated by a deliberate effort to safeguard specific caches from theft, but by a general desire to cache more. This desire is brought on by stress, which is determined by the presence and dominance of onlookers, and by unsuccessful recovery attempts. We study this theory in two experiments similar to those done with real birds with a kind of 'virtual bird', whose behavior depends on a set of basic assumptions about corvid cognition, and a well-established model of human memory. Our results show that the 'virtual bird' acts as the real birds did; its re-caching reflects whether it has been watched, how dominant its onlooker was, and how close to that onlooker it has cached. This happens even though it cannot attribute mental states, and it has only a single behavioral rule assumed to be previously learned. Thus, our simulations indicate that corvid re-caching can be explained without sophisticated social cognition. Given our specific predictions, our theory can easily be tested empirically.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elske van der Vaart
- Institute of Artificial Intelligence, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|