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Soares C, Pinto C, Machado A. Giving time a chance in the midsession reversal task. Learn Behav 2024; 52:236-248. [PMID: 37985603 PMCID: PMC11408557 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-023-00606-z] [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] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
The midsession reversal task involves a simultaneous discrimination between stimuli S1 and S2. Choice of S1 but not S2 is reinforced during the first 40 trials, and choice of S2 but not S1 is reinforced during the last 40 trials. Trials are separated by a constant intertrial interval (ITI). Pigeons learn the task seemingly by timing the moment of the reversal trial. Hence, most of their errors occur around trial 40 (S2 choices before trial 41 and S1 choices after trial 40). It has been found that when the ITI is doubled on a test session, the reversal trial is halved, a result consistent with timing. However, inconsistent with timing, halving the ITI on a test session did not double the reversal trial. The asymmetry of ITI effects could be due to the intrusion of novel cues during testing, cues that preempt the timing cue. To test this hypothesis, we ran two types of tests after the regular training in the midsession reversal task, one with S1 and S2 choices always reinforced, and another with S1 always reinforced but S2 reinforced only after 20 trials when the ITI doubled or 40 trials when the ITI halved. For most pigeons, performance was consistent with timing both when the ITI doubled and when it was halved, but some pigeons appeared to follow strategies based on counting or on reinforcement contingencies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Catarina Soares
- School of Psychology, University of Minho, Gualtar Campus, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal.
| | - Carlos Pinto
- School of Psychology, University of Minho, Gualtar Campus, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal
| | - Armando Machado
- William James Center for Research, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal
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2
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Nosofsky RM, Cook RG, Qadri MAJ, Hu M. Modeling within-session dynamics of categorical and item-memory mechanisms in pigeons. Psychon Bull Rev 2024; 31:1420-1444. [PMID: 38062316 DOI: 10.3758/s13423-023-02416-w] [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] [Accepted: 10/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/29/2024]
Abstract
Past studies have shown that pigeons can learn complex categories and can also remember large numbers of individual objects. In recent work, Cook et al. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28, 548-555, (2021) provided evidence that pigeons may use a dynamic combination of both category-based information and item-specific memorization to solve a categorical variation of the mid-session reversal (MSR) task, which is an influential task for exploring the nature of temporally organized behaviors in animals. To provide greater insight into these pigeons' behaviors, in this article we developed and investigated different computational models and their variations to account for these data. Of these, two models emerged as good candidates. One was a multinomial-processing-tree categorization/memory model, formalizing the two-process mechanism initially proposed by Cook et al. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 28, 548-555, (2021). The second was a new object/time-coding model, which posits the storage of object-specific memories with an additional within-session time code and assumes that a basic stimulus generalization process underlies the pigeons' choice behavior. Both provided high-quality fits to the published sets of training and transfer data collected in the categorical MSR task. These computational efforts give deeper insights into the theoretical mechanisms underlying the temporal and sequential structure of behavior in animals and stimulate future empirical research further revealing the organization of the pigeons' cognitive processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert M Nosofsky
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
| | | | | | - Mingjia Hu
- Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA
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3
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Suwandschieff E, Huber L, Bugnyar T, Schwing R. Kea, bird of versatility. Kea parrots ( Nestor notabilis) show high behavioural flexibility in solving a demonstrated sequence task. JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 2023; 165:49-55. [PMID: 38225935 PMCID: PMC10787887 DOI: 10.1007/s10336-023-02127-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
Social learning is an important aspect of dealing with the complexity of life. The transmission of information via the observation of other individuals is a cost-effective way of acquiring information. It is widespread within the animal kingdom but may differ strongly in the social learning mechanisms applied by the divergent species. Here we tested eighteen Kea (Nestor notabilis) parrots on their propensity to socially learn, and imitate, a demonstrated sequence of steps necessary to open an apparatus containing food. The demonstration by a conspecific led to more successful openings by observer birds, than control birds without a demonstration. However, all successful individuals showed great variation in their response topography and abandoned faithfully copying the task in favour of exploration. While the results provide little evidence for motor imitation they do provide further evidence for kea's propensity towards exploration and rapidly shifting solving strategies, indicative of behavioural flexibility. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10336-023-02127-y.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Suwandschieff
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ludwig Huber
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Thomas Bugnyar
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Raoul Schwing
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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4
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Lucon-Xiccato T, Montalbano G, Bertolucci C. Adaptive phenotypic plasticity induces individual variability along a cognitive trade-off. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230350. [PMID: 37357854 PMCID: PMC10291716 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Accepted: 06/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Animal species, including humans, display patterns of individual variability in cognition that are difficult to explain. For instance, some individuals perform well in certain cognitive tasks but show difficulties in others. We experimentally analysed the contribution of cognitive plasticity to such variability. Theory suggests that diametrically opposed cognitive phenotypes increase individuals' fitness in environments with different conditions such as resource predictability. Therefore, if selection has generated plasticity that matches individuals' cognitive phenotypes to the environment, this might produce remarkable cognitive variability. We found that guppies, Poecilia reticulata, exposed to an environment with high resource predictability (i.e. food available at the same time and in the same location) developed enhanced learning abilities. Conversely, guppies exposed to an environment with low resource predictability (i.e. food available at a random time and location) developed enhanced cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. These cognitive differences align along a trade-off between functions that favour the acquisition of regularities such as learning and functions that adjust behaviour to changing conditions (cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control). Therefore, adaptive cognitive plasticity in response to resource predictability (and potentially similar factors) is a key determinant of cognitive individual differences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Giulia Montalbano
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Cristiano Bertolucci
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
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5
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Suwandschieff E, Mundry R, Kull K, Kreuzer L, Schwing R. 'Do I know you?' Categorizing individuals on the basis of familiarity in kea ( Nestor notabilis). ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:230228. [PMID: 37351495 PMCID: PMC10282571 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.230228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
Categorizing individuals on the basis of familiarity is an adaptive way of dealing with the complexity of the social environment. It requires the use of conceptual familiarity and is considered higher order learning. Although, it is common among many species, ecological need might require and facilitate individual differentiation among heterospecifics. This may be true for laboratory populations just as much as for domesticated species and those that live in urban contexts. However, with the exception of a few studies, populations of laboratory animals have generally been given less attention. The study at hand, therefore, addressed the question whether a laboratory population of kea parrots (Nestor notabilis) were able to apply the concept of familiarity to differentiate between human faces in a two-choice discrimination task on the touchscreen. The results illustrated that the laboratory population of kea were indeed able to differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar human faces in a two-choice discrimination task. The results provide novel empirical evidence on abstract categorization capacities in parrots while at the same time providing further evidence of representational insight in kea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Suwandschieff
- Research Station Haidlhof, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Roger Mundry
- Research Station Haidlhof, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
- Platform Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Göttingen, Germany
- Department for Primate Cognition, Georg-August-University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz-ScienceCampus Primate Cognition, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Kristina Kull
- Research Station Haidlhof, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
- Division of Livestock Sciences, Department of Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lena Kreuzer
- Research Station Haidlhof, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
| | - Raoul Schwing
- Research Station Haidlhof, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
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Rössler T, Auersperg AM. Recent developments in parrot cognition: a quadrennial update. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:199-228. [PMID: 36547738 PMCID: PMC9877086 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01733-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Psittacines, along with corvids, are commonly referred to as 'feathered apes' due to their advanced cognitive abilities. Until rather recently, the research effort on parrot cognition was lagging behind that on corvids, however current developments show that the number of parrot studies is steadily increasing. In 2018, M. L. Lambert et al. provided a comprehensive review on the status of the most important work done so far in parrot and corvid cognition. Nevertheless, only a little more than 4 years after this publication, more than 50 new parrot studies have been published, some of them chartering completely new territory. On the 25th anniversary of Animal Cognition we think this warrants a detailed review of parrot cognition research over the last 4 years. We aim to capture recent developments and current trends in this rapidly expanding and diversifying field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa Rössler
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ,grid.10420.370000 0001 2286 1424Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alice M. Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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7
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Assessing human performance during contingency changes and extinction tests in reversal-learning tasks. Learn Behav 2022; 50:494-508. [PMID: 35112316 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-022-00513-9] [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: 01/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Serial reversal-learning procedures are simple preparations that allow for a better understanding of how animals learn about environmental changes, including flexibly shifting responding to adapt to changing reinforcement contingencies. The present study examined serial reversal learning with humans by arranging both midsession and variable contingency reversals across two experiments. We also examined the effects of extinction by adding nonreinforced trials at the end of later sessions and provided the first evaluation of effects of win-stay/lose-shift versus counting strategies on accuracy and response latency of humans' reversal-learning performance. In each experiment, responding tracked contingency reversals, primarily with participants using either win-stay/lose-shift or counting strategies. Introducing variable reversal points in the second experiment resulted in near-exclusive win-stay/lose-shift responding among participants and eliminated counting of trials. Each experiment also revealed an immediate shift from S2 to S1 after experiencing extinction during the initial test trial, indicating resurgence of the initial response through a win-stay/lose-shift response pattern. Therefore, the present study replicates and extends prior findings of a win-stay/lose shift response pattern in situations of greater uncertainty. These findings suggest that differences in environmental certainty induce qualitatively different decision-making strategies.
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8
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Niesterok B, Martin S, Hildebrand L, Dehnhardt G, Hanke FD. Well-developed spatial reversal learning abilities in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1195-1206. [PMID: 35841437 PMCID: PMC9617834 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01651-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
In this study, behavioral plasticity in harbor seals was investigated in spatial reversal learning tasks of varying complexities. We started with a classic spatial reversal learning experiment with no more than one reversal per day. The seals quickly learned the task and showed progressive improvement over reversals, one seal even reaching one-trial performance. In a second approach, one seal could complete multiple reversals occurring within a session. Again, a number of reversals were finished with only one error occurring at the beginning of a session as in experiment 1 which provides evidence that the seal adopted a strategy. In a final approach, reversals within a session were marked by an external cue. This way, an errorless performance of the experimental animal was achieved in up to three consecutive reversals. In conclusion, harbor seals master spatial, in contrast to visual, reversal learning experiments with ease. The underlying behavioral flexibility can help to optimize behaviors in fluctuating or changing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benedikt Niesterok
- Institute for Biosciences, Sensory and Cognitive Ecology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3, 18059, Rostock, Germany
- Institute for Bioscience, Neuroethology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3, 18059, Rostock, Germany
| | - Shanie Martin
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Biological and Marine Science, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK
| | - Lisa Hildebrand
- Geospatial Ecology of Marine Megafauna Lab, Marine Mammal Institute, and Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Sciences, Oregon State University, Newport, OR, 97365, USA
| | - Guido Dehnhardt
- Institute for Biosciences, Sensory and Cognitive Ecology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3, 18059, Rostock, Germany
| | - Frederike D Hanke
- Institute for Bioscience, Neuroethology, University of Rostock, Albert-Einstein-Str. 3, 18059, Rostock, Germany.
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9
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McLean LRW, Nichols MM, Taylor AH, Nelson XJ. Memory retention of conditioned aversion training in New Zealand's alpine parrot, the kea. J Wildl Manage 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.22221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lydia R. W. McLean
- School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800 Christchurch 8140 New Zealand
| | - Margaret M. Nichols
- Zero Invasive Predators Ltd PO Box 9267 Marion Square Wellington 6141 New Zealand
| | - Alex H. Taylor
- School of Psychology University of Auckland 23 Symonds Street Auckland 1010 New Zealand
| | - Ximena J. Nelson
- School of Biological Sciences University of Canterbury Private Bag 4800 Christchurch 8140 New Zealand
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10
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Lucon-Xiccato T. The contribution of executive functions to sex differences in animal cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 138:104705. [PMID: 35605792 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive sex differences have been reported in several vertebrate species, mostly in spatial abilities. Here, I review evidence of sex differences in a family of general cognitive functions that control behaviour and cognition, i.e., executive functions such as cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Most of this evidence derives from studies in teleost fish. However, analysis of literature from other fields (e.g., biomedicine, genetic, ecology) concerning mammals and birds reveals that more than 40% of species investigated exhibit sex differences in executive functions. Among species, the direction and magnitude of these sex differences vary greatly, even within the same family, suggesting sex-specific selection due to species' reproductive systems and reproductive roles of males and females. Evidence also suggests that sex differences in executive functions might provide males and females highly differentiated cognitive phenotypes. To understand the evolution of cognitive sex differences in vertebrates, future research should consider executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
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11
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Bastos APM, Nelson XJ, Taylor AH. From the lab to the wild: how can captive studies aid the conservation of kea (Nestor notabilis)? Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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12
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Connelly F, Hall ML, Johnsson RD, Elliot-Kerr S, Dow BR, Lesku JA, Mulder RA. Urban noise does not affect cognitive performance in wild Australian magpies. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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13
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Johnsson RD, Connelly F, Gaviraghi Mussoi J, Vyssotski AL, Cain KE, Roth TC, Lesku JA. Sleep loss impairs cognitive performance and alters song output in Australian magpies. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6645. [PMID: 35459249 PMCID: PMC9033856 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10162-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/04/2022] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Sleep maintains optimal brain functioning to facilitate behavioural flexibility while awake. Owing to a historical bias towards research on mammals, we know comparatively little about the role of sleep in facilitating the cognitive abilities of birds. We investigated how sleep deprivation over the full-night (12 h) or half-night (6 h) affects cognitive performance in adult Australian magpies (Cracticus tibicen), relative to that after a night of undisturbed sleep. Each condition was preceded and followed by a baseline and recovery night of sleep, respectively. Prior to each treatment, birds were trained on an associative learning task; on the day after experimental treatment (recovery day), birds were tested on a reversal learning task. To glean whether sleep loss affected song output, we also conducted impromptu song recordings for three days. Ultimately, sleep-deprived magpies were slower to attempt the reversal learning task, less likely to perform and complete the task, and those that did the test performed worse than better-rested birds. We also found that sleep-deprived magpies sang longer yet fewer songs, shifted crepuscular singing to mid-day, and during the post-recovery day, song frequency bandwidth narrowed. These results collectively indicate that sleep loss impairs motivation and cognitive performance, and alters song output, in a social adult songbird.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin D Johnsson
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
| | - Farley Connelly
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.,School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | | | | | - Kristal E Cain
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Timothy C Roth
- Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, USA
| | - John A Lesku
- School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
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14
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Executive Functions in Birds. BIRDS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/birds3020013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Executive functions comprise of top-down cognitive processes that exert control over information processing, from acquiring information to issuing a behavioral response. These cognitive processes of inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility underpin complex cognitive skills, such as episodic memory and planning, which have been repeatedly investigated in several bird species in recent decades. Until recently, avian executive functions were studied in relatively few bird species but have gained traction in comparative cognitive research following MacLean and colleagues’ large-scale study from 2014. Therefore, in this review paper, the relevant previous findings are collected and organized to facilitate further investigations of these core cognitive processes in birds. This review can assist in integrating findings from avian and mammalian cognitive research and further the current understanding of executive functions’ significance and evolution.
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15
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Kaplan G. Casting the Net Widely for Change in Animal Welfare: The Plight of Birds in Zoos, Ex Situ Conservation, and Conservation Fieldwork. Animals (Basel) 2021; 12:ani12010031. [PMID: 35011137 PMCID: PMC8749551 DOI: 10.3390/ani12010031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 12/15/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Animal welfare measures have been designed to improve the health and environmental conditions of animals living under human control, for whatever reason. Welfare regulations have evolved also in line with new research insights into the cognitive, affective, and physiological domain of birds, as this paper discusses. This paper casts a critical eye on areas that Animal Welfare regulations have not reached at all, have not gone far enough, or are not regulated or supervised. It identifies the plight of birds living in captivity or being studied in the field, which either by neglect, ignorance, or design are subject to practices and procedures that may not meet basic welfare standards. The paper discusses some profound contradictions in the way we think about birds and their plight in today’s world: marked for extinction on one hand and highly admired as pets on the other; damaging fieldwork on one hand and the aims of conservation on the other. It highlights some common and distressing examples of poor welfare in birds. It also offers some solutions involving simple legislative changes and ways to eliminate some unacceptably low ethical standards in the handling and management of birds. Abstract This paper discusses paradoxes in our relationship to and treatment of birds in captive and conservation contexts. The paper identifies modern and new challenges that arise from declining bird numbers worldwide. Such challenges have partly changed zoos into providers of insurance populations specifically for species at risk of extinction. They have also accelerated fieldwork projects, but by using advanced technological tools and in increasing numbers, contradictorily, they may cause serious harm to the very birds studied for conservation purposes. In practice, very few avian species have any notable protection or guarantee of good treatment. The paper first deals with shortcomings of identifying problematic avian behavior in captive birds. It then brings together specific cases of field studies and captive breeding for conservation in which major welfare deficits are identified. Indeed, the paper argues that avian welfare is now an urgent task. This is not just because of declining bird numbers but because of investment in new technologies in field studies that may have introduced additional stressors and put at risk bird survival. While the paper documents a substantial number of peer-reviewed papers criticizing practices counter to modern welfare standards, they have by and large not led to changes in some practices. Some solutions are suggested that could be readily implemented and, to my knowledge, have never been considered under a welfare model before.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gisela Kaplan
- School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
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