5
|
Dougherty LR, Guillette LM. Linking personality and cognition: a meta-analysis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 373:rstb.2017.0282. [PMID: 30104427 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/02/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past decade, several conceptual papers have linked variation in animal personality to variation in cognition, and recent years have seen a flood of empirical studies testing this link. However, these results have not been synthesized in a quantitative way. Here, we systematically search the literature and conduct a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis of empirical papers that have tested the relationship between animal personality (exploration, boldness, activity, aggression and sociability) and cognition (initial learning/reversal speed, number of correct choices/errors after standard training). We find evidence for a small but significant relationship between variation in personality and variation in learning across species in the absolute scale; however, the direction of this relationship is highly variable and when both positive and negative effect sizes are considered, the average effect size does not differ significantly from zero. Importantly, this variation among studies is not explained by differences in personality or learning measure, or taxonomic grouping. Further, these results do not support current hypotheses suggesting that that fast-explorers are fast-learners or that slow-explorers perform better on tests of reversal learning. Rather, we find evidence that bold animals are faster learners, but only when boldness is measured in response to a predator (or simulated predator) and not when boldness is measured by exposure to a novel object (or novel food). Further, although only a small sub-sample of papers reported results separately for males and females, sex explained a significant amount of variation in effect size. These results, therefore, suggest that, while personality and learning are indeed related across a range of species, the direction of this relationship is highly variable. Thus further empirical work is needed to determine whether there are important moderators of this relationship.This article is part of the theme issue 'Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Liam R Dougherty
- Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7RB, UK
| | - Lauren M Guillette
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK .,Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada AB T6G 2R3
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Cauchoix M, Chow PKY, van Horik JO, Atance CM, Barbeau EJ, Barragan-Jason G, Bize P, Boussard A, Buechel SD, Cabirol A, Cauchard L, Claidière N, Dalesman S, Devaud JM, Didic M, Doligez B, Fagot J, Fichtel C, Henke-von der Malsburg J, Hermer E, Huber L, Huebner F, Kappeler PM, Klein S, Langbein J, Langley EJG, Lea SEG, Lihoreau M, Lovlie H, Matzel LD, Nakagawa S, Nawroth C, Oesterwind S, Sauce B, Smith EA, Sorato E, Tebbich S, Wallis LJ, Whiteside MA, Wilkinson A, Chaine AS, Morand-Ferron J. The repeatability of cognitive performance: a meta-analysis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20170281. [PMID: 30104426 PMCID: PMC6107569 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioural and cognitive processes play important roles in mediating an individual's interactions with its environment. Yet, while there is a vast literature on repeatable individual differences in behaviour, relatively little is known about the repeatability of cognitive performance. To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition, we gathered 44 studies on individual performance of 25 species across six animal classes and used meta-analysis to assess whether cognitive performance is repeatable. We compared repeatability (R) in performance (1) on the same task presented at different times (temporal repeatability), and (2) on different tasks that measured the same putative cognitive ability (contextual repeatability). We also addressed whether R estimates were influenced by seven extrinsic factors (moderators): type of cognitive performance measurement, type of cognitive task, delay between tests, origin of the subjects, experimental context, taxonomic class and publication status. We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of cognitive performance, with mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Repeatability estimates were mostly influenced by the type of cognitive performance measures and publication status. Our findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition across a range of taxa which, like behaviour, may be associated with fitness outcomes.This article is part of the theme issue 'Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Cauchoix
- Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS UMR5321, Evolutionary Ecology Group, 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis, France
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Toulouse, France
| | - P K Y Chow
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- Graduate School of Environmental Science, Division of Biospohere Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - J O van Horik
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - C M Atance
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
| | - E J Barbeau
- Centre de recherche Cerveau et Cognition, UPS-CNRS, UMR5549, Toulouse, France
| | - G Barragan-Jason
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Toulouse, France
| | - P Bize
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - A Boussard
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrheniusväg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - S D Buechel
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrheniusväg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - A Cabirol
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - L Cauchard
- Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - N Claidière
- LPC, Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - S Dalesman
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - J M Devaud
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - M Didic
- AP-HM Timone & Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille, France
| | - B Doligez
- Department of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology, CNRS UMR 5558, Université Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
| | - J Fagot
- LPC, Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - C Fichtel
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - J Henke-von der Malsburg
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - E Hermer
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - L Huber
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - F Huebner
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - P M Kappeler
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - S Klein
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - J Langbein
- Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - E J G Langley
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - S E G Lea
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - M Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - H Lovlie
- IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
| | - L D Matzel
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - S Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - C Nawroth
- Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - S Oesterwind
- Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - B Sauce
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - E A Smith
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - E Sorato
- IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
| | - S Tebbich
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - L J Wallis
- Clever Dog Lab, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - M A Whiteside
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - A Wilkinson
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - A S Chaine
- Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS UMR5321, Evolutionary Ecology Group, 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis, France
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Toulouse, France
| | | |
Collapse
|