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Wen C, Wang C, Guo X, Li H, Xiao H, Wen J, Dong S. Object use in insects. INSECT SCIENCE 2024; 31:1001-1014. [PMID: 37828914 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.13275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
Insects are the most diverse group of organisms in the animal kingdom, and some species exhibit complex social behaviors. Although research on insect object use is still in its early stages, insects have already been shown to display rich object-use behaviors. This review focuses on patterns and behavioral flexibility in insect object-use behavior, and the role of cultural evolution in the development of object-use behaviors. Object use in insects is not widespread but has been documented in a diverse set of taxa. Some insects can use objects flexibly and display various object-use patterns. Like mammals and birds, insects use objects in diverse activities, including foraging, predator defense, courtship, and play. Intelligence, pre-existing manipulative behaviors, and anatomical structure affect innovations in object use. In addition, learning and imitation are the main mechanisms underlying the spread of object-use behaviors within populations. Given that insects are one of the major animal groups engaging in object use, studies of insect object use could provide general insights into object use in the animal kingdom.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chao Wen
- School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Cai Wang
- College of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaoli Guo
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Hongyu Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Haijun Xiao
- School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Junbao Wen
- Beijing Key Laboratory for Forest Pest Control, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
| | - Shikui Dong
- School of Grassland Science, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
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2
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Gudenus LM, Wein A, Folkertsma R, Schwing R. Feathered Lectures-Evidence of Perceptual Factors on Social Learning in Kea Parrots ( Nestor notabilis). Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1651. [PMID: 38891698 PMCID: PMC11171027 DOI: 10.3390/ani14111651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2024] [Revised: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Social learning describes the acquisition of knowledge through observation of other individuals, and it is fundamental for the development of culture and traditions within human groups. Although previous studies suggest that Kea (Nestor notabilis) benefit from social learning, experimental evidence has been inconclusive, as in a recent two-action task, all perceptual factors were ignored. The present study attempts to address this by investigating social learning in Kea with a focus on social enhancement processes. In an experiment with a captive group of Kea, we investigated whether individuals that had the opportunity to observe a conspecific performing a simple task subsequently show better performance in that task than a control group without prior demonstration. This study provides a strong tendency of greater success in skill acquisition in Kea as a result of social learning. Kea that observed a conspecific solving a task showed clear evidence of perceptual factors drawing attention to the relevant parts of the experimental apparatus and manipulated these significantly more (100% of trials) than control birds (77.8% of trials). Combined with a strong trend (p = 0.056) of the test subjects solving the task more than the control subjects, this shows conclusively that Kea, at least when required to solve a task, do attend to perceptual factors of a demonstrated action.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Marie Gudenus
- MeiCogSci, Middle European Interdisciplinary Master’s in Cognitive Science, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Amelia Wein
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria (R.S.)
| | - Remco Folkertsma
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria (R.S.)
| | - Raoul Schwing
- Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria (R.S.)
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3
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Smirnova AA, Bulgakova LR, Cheplakova MA, Jelbert SA. Hooded crows (Corvus cornix) manufacture objects relative to a mental template. Anim Cogn 2024; 27:36. [PMID: 38683398 PMCID: PMC11058793 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01874-6] [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: 12/08/2023] [Revised: 03/30/2024] [Accepted: 04/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/01/2024]
Abstract
It was recently found that not only tool-specialized New Caledonian crows, but also Goffin cockatoos can manufacture physical objects in accordance with a mental template. That is, they can emulate features of existing objects when they manufacture new items. Both species spontaneously ripped pieces of card into large strips if they had previously learned that a large template was rewarded, and small strips when they previously learned that a small template was rewarded. Among New Caledonian crows, this cognitive ability was suggested as a potential mechanism underlying the transmission of natural tool designs. Here, we tested for the same ability in another non-specialised tool user-Hooded crows (Corvus cornix). Crows were exposed to pre-made template objects, varying first in colour and then in size, and were rewarded only if they chose pre-made objects that matched the template. In subsequent tests, birds were given the opportunity to manufacture versions of these objects. All three crows ripped paper pieces from the same colour material as the rewarded template, and, crucially, also manufactured objects that were more similar in size to previously rewarded, than unrewarded, templates, despite the birds being rewarded at random in both tests. Therefore, we found the ability to manufacture physical objects relative to a mental template in yet another bird species not specialized in using or making foraging tools in the wild, but with a high level of brain and cognitive development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna A Smirnova
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 1, 12, Moscow, 119899, Russia.
| | - Leia R Bulgakova
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 1, 12, Moscow, 119899, Russia
| | - Maria A Cheplakova
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninsky Gory, 1, 12, Moscow, 119899, Russia
| | - Sarah A Jelbert
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK
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4
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Goldsborough Z, Crofoot MC, Barrett BJ. Male-biased stone tool use by wild white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator). Am J Primatol 2024; 86:e23594. [PMID: 38196199 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23594] [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: 09/04/2023] [Revised: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024]
Abstract
Tool-using primates often show sex differences in both the frequency and efficiency of tool use. In species with sex-biased dispersal, such within-group variation likely shapes patterns of cultural transmission of tool-use traditions between groups. On the Panamanian islands of Jicarón and Coiba, a population of white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus imitator)-some of which engage in habitual stone tool use-provide an opportunity to test hypotheses about why such sex-biases arise. On Jicarón, we have only observed males engaging in stone tool use, whereas on Coiba, both sexes are known to use tools. Using 5 years of camera trap data, we provide evidence that this variation likely reflects a sex difference in tool use rather than a sampling artifact, and then test hypotheses about the factors driving this pattern. Differences in physical ability or risk-aversion, and competition over access to anvils do not account for the sex-differences in tool-use we observe. Our data show that adult females are physically capable of stone tool use: adult females on Coiba and juveniles on Jicarón smaller than adult females regularly engage in tool use. Females also have ample opportunity to use tools: the sexes are equally terrestrial, and competition over anvils is low. Finally, females rarely scrounge on left-over food items either during or after tool-using events, suggesting they are not being provisioned by males. Although it remains unclear why adult white-faced capuchin females on Jicarón do not use stone-tools, our results illustrate that such sex biases in socially learned behaviors can arise even in the absence of obvious physical, environmental, and social constraints. This suggests that a much more nuanced understanding of the differences in social structure, diet, and dispersal patterns are needed to explain why sex-biases in tool use arise in some populations but not in others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoë Goldsborough
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon, Panama
| | - Margaret C Crofoot
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon, Panama
| | - Brendan J Barrett
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany
- Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Ancon, Panama
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5
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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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6
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Paraouty N, Yao JD, Varnet L, Chou CN, Chung S, Sanes DH. Sensory cortex plasticity supports auditory social learning. Nat Commun 2023; 14:5828. [PMID: 37730696 PMCID: PMC10511464 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41641-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2023] [Accepted: 09/11/2023] [Indexed: 09/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Social learning (SL) through experience with conspecifics can facilitate the acquisition of many behaviors. Thus, when Mongolian gerbils are exposed to a demonstrator performing an auditory discrimination task, their subsequent task acquisition is facilitated, even in the absence of visual cues. Here, we show that transient inactivation of auditory cortex (AC) during exposure caused a significant delay in task acquisition during the subsequent practice phase, suggesting that AC activity is necessary for SL. Moreover, social exposure induced an improvement in AC neuron sensitivity to auditory task cues. The magnitude of neural change during exposure correlated with task acquisition during practice. In contrast, exposure to only auditory task cues led to poorer neurometric and behavioral outcomes. Finally, social information during exposure was encoded in the AC of observer animals. Together, our results suggest that auditory SL is supported by AC neuron plasticity occurring during social exposure and prior to behavioral performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nihaad Paraouty
- Center for Neural Science New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Justin D Yao
- Department of Otolaryngology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
| | - Léo Varnet
- Laboratoire des Systèmes Perceptifs, UMR 8248, Ecole Normale Supérieure, PSL University, Paris, 75005, France
| | - Chi-Ning Chou
- Center for Computational Neuroscience, Flatiron Institute, Simons Foundation, New York, NY, USA
- School of Engineering & Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - SueYeon Chung
- Center for Neural Science New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Center for Computational Neuroscience, Flatiron Institute, Simons Foundation, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dan H Sanes
- Center for Neural Science New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, 10003, USA
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7
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Gutiérrez-Ibáñez C, Amaral-Peçanha C, Iwaniuk AN, Wylie DR, Baron J. Online repositories of photographs and videos provide insights into the evolution of skilled hindlimb movements in birds. Commun Biol 2023; 6:781. [PMID: 37582975 PMCID: PMC10427617 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05151-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] [Received: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 08/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to manipulate objects with limbs has evolved repeatedly among land tetrapods. Several selective forces have been proposed to explain the emergence of forelimb manipulation, however, work has been largely restricted to mammals, which prevents the testing of evolutionary hypotheses in a comprehensive evolutionary framework. In birds, forelimbs have gained the exclusive function of flight, with grasping transferred predominantly to the beak. In some birds, the feet are also used in manipulative tasks and appear to share some features with manual grasping and prehension in mammals, but this has not been systematically investigated. Here we use large online repositories of photographs and videos to quantify foot manipulative skills across a large sample of bird species (>1000 species). Our results show that a complex interaction between niche, diet and phylogeny drive the evolution of manipulative skills with the feet in birds. Furthermore, we provide strong support for the proposition that an arboreal niche is a key element in the evolution of manipulation in land vertebrates. Our systematic comparison of foot use in birds provides a solid base for understanding morphological and neural adaptations for foot use in birds, and for studying the convergent evolution of manipulative skills in birds and mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Clara Amaral-Peçanha
- Graduate Program in Physiology and Pharmacology Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Andrew N Iwaniuk
- Department of Neuroscience, Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alta., Canada
| | - Douglas R Wylie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Jerome Baron
- Graduate Program in Physiology and Pharmacology Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
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8
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Elisabeth S, Amelia W, Remco F, Thomas B, Ludwig H, Raoul S. Two-action task, testing imitative social learning in kea (Nestor notabilis). Anim Cogn 2023:10.1007/s10071-023-01788-9. [PMID: 37261570 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01788-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 05/18/2023] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Social learning is an adaptive way of dealing with the complexity of life as it reduces the risk of trial-and-error learning. Depending on the type of information acquired, and associations formed, several mechanisms within the larger taxonomy of social learning can be distinguished. Imitation is one such process within this larger taxonomy, it is considered cognitively demanding and is associated with high-fidelity response matching. The present study reproduced a 2002 study conducted by Heyes and Saggerson, which successfully illustrated motor imitation in budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus). In our study, eighteen kea (Nestor notabilis) that observed a trained demonstrator remove a stopper from a test box (1) took less time from hopping on the box to feeding (response duration) in session one and (2) were faster in making a vertical removal response on the stopper once they hopped on the box (removal latency) in session one than non-observing control group individuals. In contrast to the budgerigars (Heyes and Saggerson, Ani Behav. 64:851-859, 2002) the present study could not find evidence of motor imitation in kea. The results do illustrate, however, that there were strong social effects on exploration rates indicating motivational and attentional shifts. Furthermore, the results may suggest a propensity toward emulation in contrast to motor imitation or alternatively selectivity in the application of imitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suwandschieff Elisabeth
- Haidlhof research station, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Wein Amelia
- Haidlhof research station, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Folkertsma Remco
- Haidlhof research station, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Platform Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bugnyar Thomas
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Huber Ludwig
- Haidlhof research station, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Schwing Raoul
- Haidlhof research station, Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Veit A, Weißhaupt S, Bruat A, Wondrak M, Huber L. Emulative learning of a two-step task in free-ranging domestic pigs. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:929-942. [PMID: 36652043 PMCID: PMC10066142 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01740-3] [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: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 12/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Previous research showed that young domestic pigs learn through observation of conspecifics by using social learning mechanisms like social facilitation, enhancement effects, and even object movement re-enactment. The latter suggests some form of emulative learning in which the observer learns about the object's movements and affordances. As it remains unclear whether pigs need a social agent to learn about objects, we provided 36 free-ranging domestic pigs with varying degrees of social to non-social demonstrations on how to solve a two-step manipulative foraging task: observers watched either a conspecific or a human demonstrator, or self-moving objects ("ghost control"), or a ghost control accompanied by an inactive conspecific bystander. In addition, 22 subjects that were previously tested without any demonstrator were used as a non-observer control. To solve the task, the subjects had to first remove a plug from its recess to then be able to slide a cover to the side, which would lay open a food compartment. Observers interacted longer with the relevant objects (plugs) and were more successful in solving the task compared to non-observers. We found no differences with regard to success between the four observer groups, indicating that the pigs mainly learned about the apparatus rather than about the actions. As the only common feature of the different demonstrations was the movement of the plug and the cover, we conclude the observer pigs learned primarily by emulation, suggesting that social agents are not necessary for pigs when learning through observation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ariane Veit
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Stefanie Weißhaupt
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - Arnaud Bruat
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - Marianne Wondrak
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ludwig Huber
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
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Ibáñez de Aldecoa P, Auersperg AMI, Griffin AS, Tebbich S. Ratcheting up tool innovation in Goffin's cockatoos ( Cacatua goffiniana): The effect of contextually diverse prior experience. Ethology 2023; 129:133-145. [PMID: 37082334 PMCID: PMC10108129 DOI: 10.1111/eth.13351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2022] [Revised: 11/23/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The ability to gain information from one situation, acquire new skills and/or perfect existing ones, and subsequently apply them to a new situation is a key element in behavioural flexibility and a hallmark of innovation. A flexible agent is expected to store these skills and apply them to contexts different from that in which learning occurred. Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) are highly innovative parrots renowned for their problem-solving and tool-using skills and are thus excellent candidates to study this phenomenon. We hypothesized that birds allowed to use a tool in a larger variety of contingencies would acquire a broader expertise in handling it, facilitating its transfer to new tasks. In our study, we compared the performance of two groups of captive Goffin's cockatoos (N = 13): A test group received more diverse learning and motor experiences on multiple applications of a hook-type tool, while a control group received intensive, total trial-matched, experience with a single application of the same tool. Then, both groups were tested on two novel tasks to determine whether experience with the tool in multiple contexts would facilitate performance during transfer. While both groups transferred to both novel tasks, group differences in performance were apparent, particularly in the second transfer task, where test birds achieved a higher success rate and reached criteria within fewer trials than control birds. These results provide support for the prediction that experiencing a diverse range of contingencies with a tool appears to allow birds to acquire generalizable knowledge and transferrable skills to tackle an untrained problem more efficiently. In contrast, intensive experience with the tool in a single context might have made control birds less flexible and more fixated on previously learned tool-dependent instances.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alice M. I. Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of ViennaViennaAustria
| | - Andrea S. Griffin
- School of Psychology, University of NewcastleCallaghanNew South WalesAustralia
| | - Sabine Tebbich
- Department of Behavioural and Cognitive BiologyUniversity of ViennaViennaAustria
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11
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Urhan U, Mårdberg M, Isaksson E, van Oers K, Brodin A. Blue tits are outperformed by great tits in a test of motor inhibition, and experience does not improve their performance. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2023; 10:221176. [PMID: 36844809 PMCID: PMC9943873 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.221176] [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: 09/08/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Motor inhibition refers to the ability to inhibit immediate responses in favour of adaptive actions that are mediated by executive functions. This ability may be an indication of general cognitive ability in animals and is important for advanced cognitive functions. In this study, our aim was to compare motor inhibition ability of two closely related passerines that share the same habitat. To do this, we tested motor inhibition ability using a transparent cylinder task in blue tits in the same way as we previously tested great tits. To test whether the experience of transparent objects would affect the performance of these species differently, both in the present experiment using blue tits and our previous one on great tits, we divided 33 wild-caught individuals into three different treatment groups with 11 birds each. Before the test we allowed one group to experience a transparent cylindrical object, one group to experience a transparent wall and a third group was kept naive. In general, blue tits performed worse than great tits, and unlike the great tits, they did not improve their performance after experience with a transparent cylinder-like object. The performance difference may stem from difference in foraging behaviour between these species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Utku Urhan
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Emil Isaksson
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
| | - Kees van Oers
- Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Anders Brodin
- Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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12
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Clever pest control? The role of cognition in biological pest regulation. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:189-197. [PMID: 36526865 PMCID: PMC9877098 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01731-4] [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: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 12/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Crop pest management is a global challenge. Increases in agricultural intensity due to anthropogenic demands, alongside the need to reduce the reliance on pesticides to minimize environmental harm, have resulted in an urgent need to improve and expand other methods of pest control. One increasingly utilized method is biological pest control, in which natural pest predators are used to regulating crop pests. Current approaches to biological pest regulation assess the importance of a pest controller by examining its ability to maintain pest populations over an extended period. However, this approach lacks efficiency, specificity, and efficacy because it does not take into account crucial factors which determine how predators find, evaluate and remember food sources-the cognitive processes underlying their behavior. This review will investigate the cognitive factors involved in biological pest control and examine how these factors may be manipulated to impact pest behavior and pest controller performance.
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13
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Torres Ortiz S, Smeele SQ, Champenois J, von Bayern AMP. Memory for own actions in parrots. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20561. [PMID: 36446997 PMCID: PMC9709151 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-25199-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2022] [Accepted: 11/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to recall one's past actions is a crucial prerequisite for mental self-representation and episodic memory. We studied whether blue-throated macaws, a social macaw species, can remember their previous actions. The parrots were trained to repeat four previously learned actions upon command. Test sessions included repeat trials, double repeat trials and trials without repeat intermixed to test if the parrots repeated correctly, only when requested and not relying on a representation of the last behavioral command. Following their success, the parrots also received sessions with increasing time delays preceding the repeat command and successfully mastered 12-15 s delays. The parrots successfully transferred the repeat command spontaneously at first trial to three newly trained behaviors they had never repeated before, and also succeeded in a second trial intermixed with already trained actions (untrained repeat tests). This corroborates that successful repeating is not just an artifact of intense training but that blue-throated macaws can transfer the abstract "repeat rule" to untrained action. It also implies that an important aspect of self-representation has evolved in this avian group and might be adaptive, which is consistent with the complex socio-ecological environment of parrots and previous demonstrations of their complex cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Torres Ortiz
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, in Foundation, Seewiesen Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse, 82319 Starnberg, Germany ,Max-Planck Comparative Cognition Research Station, Loro Parque Fundación, Av. Loro Parque, 38400 Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife Spain
| | - Simeon Q. Smeele
- grid.507516.00000 0004 7661 536XMax Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Am Obstberg 1, 78315 Radolfzell Am Bodensee, Germany ,grid.419518.00000 0001 2159 1813Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany ,grid.9811.10000 0001 0658 7699Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Juliette Champenois
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, in Foundation, Seewiesen Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse, 82319 Starnberg, Germany ,Max-Planck Comparative Cognition Research Station, Loro Parque Fundación, Av. Loro Parque, 38400 Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife Spain
| | - Auguste M. P. von Bayern
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence, in Foundation, Seewiesen Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse, 82319 Starnberg, Germany ,Max-Planck Comparative Cognition Research Station, Loro Parque Fundación, Av. Loro Parque, 38400 Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife Spain
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14
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Involvement of the neural social behaviour network during social information acquisition in zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata). Learn Behav 2022; 50:189-200. [PMID: 35167055 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-022-00511-x] [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: 01/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Female zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata will copy the novel foraging choice of males. The degree to which they do so, however, can vary considerably. Among-individual differences in social learning and their underlying neural pathways have received relatively little attention and remain poorly understood. Here, then, we allowed female zebra finches to observe live-streamed male demonstrators feeding from one of two novel-coloured feeders (social information acquisition phase). After this social information acquisition phase, we tested from which feeder the females preferred to feed to determine whether they copied the feeder choice of the male demonstrator (social learning test phase). We then examined the brains of these females for immediate early gene activity (c-fos) in the neural social behaviour network for the time during which they were observing the male feeding. Of the 12 regions and sub-regions in the brain examined we found only one weak correlation: greater copying was associated with lower activity in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, BSTmv. Future work should perhaps focus on neural activity that occurs during the stage in which there is evidence that animals have copied a demonstrator (i.e., social learning test phase in the current experiment) rather than during the period in which those animals observe that demonstrator (i.e., social information acquisition phase in the current experiment). What is clear is that the considerable emphasis on examining the behavioural component of social learning has not yet been accompanied by neural analyses.
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15
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Osuna-Mascaró AJ, Mundry R, Tebbich S, Beck SR, Auersperg AMI. Innovative composite tool use by Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). Sci Rep 2022; 12:1510. [PMID: 35087147 PMCID: PMC8795444 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05529-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Composite tool use (using more than one tool simultaneously to achieve an end) has played a significant role in the development of human technology. Typically, it depends on a number of specific and often complex spatial relations and there are thus very few reported cases in non-human animals (e.g., specific nut-cracking techniques in chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys). The innovative strategies underlying the innovation and spread of tool manufacture and associative tool use (using > 1 tools) across tool using animals is an important milestone towards a better understanding of the evolution of human technology. We tested Goffin's cockatoos on a composite tool problem, the 'Golf Club Task', that requires the use of two objects in combination (one used to control the free movement of a second) to get a reward. We demonstrate that these parrots can innovate composite tool use by actively controlling the position of the end effector and movement of both objects involved in a goal directed manner. The consistent use of different techniques by different subjects highlights the innovative nature of the individual solutions. To test whether the solution could be socially transmitted, we conducted a second study, which provided only tentative evidence for emulative learning. To our knowledge, this indicates that the cognitive preconditions for composite tool use have also evolved outside the primate lineage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio J Osuna-Mascaró
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Roger Mundry
- German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate Research, Kellnerweg 4, 37077, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sabine Tebbich
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sarah R Beck
- School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Alice M I Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine, Medical University of Vienna and University of Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
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16
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Colbourne JAD, Auersperg AMI, Lambert ML, Huber L, Völter CJ. Extending the Reach of Tooling Theory: A Neurocognitive and Phylogenetic Perspective. Top Cogn Sci 2021; 13:548-572. [PMID: 34165917 PMCID: PMC7616289 DOI: 10.1111/tops.12554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2021] [Revised: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 06/02/2021] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Tool use research has suffered from a lack of consistent theoretical frameworks. There is a plethora of tool use definitions and the most widespread ones are so inclusive that the behaviors that fall under them arguably do not have much in common. The situation is aggravated by the prevalence of anecdotes, which have played an undue role in the literature. In order to provide a more rigorous foundation for research and to advance our understanding of the interrelation between tool use and cognition, we suggest the adoption of Fragaszy and Mangalam's (2018) tooling framework, which is characterized by the creation of a body-plus-object system that manages a mechanical interface between tool and surface. Tooling is limited to a narrower suite of behaviors than tool use, which might facilitate its neurocognitive investigation. Indeed, evidence in the literature indicates that tooling has distinct neurocognitive underpinnings not shared by other activities typically classified as tool use, at least in primates. In order to understand the extent of tooling incidences in previous research, we systematically surveyed the comprehensive tool use catalog by Shumaker et al. (2011). We identified 201 tool use submodes, of which only 81 could be classified as tooling, and the majority of the tool use examples across species were poorly supported by evidence. Furthermore, tooling appears to be phylogenetically less widespread than tool use, with the greatest variability found in the primate order. However, in order to confirm these findings and to understand the evolution and neurocognitive mechanisms of tooling, more systematic research will be required in the future, particularly with currently underrepresented taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A D Colbourne
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna
| | - Alice M I Auersperg
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna
| | - Megan L Lambert
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna
| | - Ludwig Huber
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna
| | - Christoph J Völter
- Comparative Cognition Unit, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna
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17
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Bobrowicz K, O'Hara M, Carminito C, Auersperg AMI, Osvath M. Goffin's Cockatoos ( Cacatua goffiniana) Can Solve a Novel Problem After Conflicting Past Experiences. Front Psychol 2021; 12:694719. [PMID: 34267713 PMCID: PMC8275924 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.694719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Novel problems often partially overlap with familiar ones. Some features match the qualities of previous situations stored in long-term memory and therefore trigger their retrieval. Using relevant, while inhibiting irrelevant, memories to solve novel problems is a hallmark of behavioral flexibility in humans and has recently been demonstrated in great apes. This capacity has been proposed to promote technical innovativeness and thus warrants investigations of such a mechanism in other innovative species. Here, we show that proficient tool-users among Goffin's cockatoos-an innovative tool-using species-could use a relevant previous experience to solve a novel, partially overlapping problem, even despite a conflicting, potentially misleading, experience. This suggests that selecting relevant experiences over irrelevant experiences guides problem solving at least in some Goffin's cockatoos. Our result supports the hypothesis that flexible memory functions may promote technical innovations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Bobrowicz
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.,Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Mark O'Hara
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Chelsea Carminito
- Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Alice M I Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mathias Osvath
- Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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18
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Horn L, Zewald JS, Bugnyar T, Massen JJM. Carrion Crows and Azure-Winged Magpies Show No Prosocial Tendencies When Tested in a Token Transfer Paradigm. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:1526. [PMID: 34073851 PMCID: PMC8225188 DOI: 10.3390/ani11061526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 05/12/2021] [Accepted: 05/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
To study the evolution of humans' cooperative nature, researchers have recently sought comparisons with other species. Studies investigating corvids, for example, showed that carrion crows and azure-winged magpies delivered food to group members when tested in naturalistic or simple experimental paradigms. Here, we investigated whether we could replicate these positive findings when testing the same two species in a token transfer paradigm. After training the birds to exchange tokens with an experimenter for food rewards, we tested whether they would also transfer tokens to other birds, when they did not have the opportunity to exchange the tokens themselves. To control for the effects of motivation, and of social or stimulus enhancement, we tested each individual in three additional control conditions. We witnessed very few attempts and/or successful token transfers, and those few instances did not occur more frequently in the test condition than in the controls, which would suggest that the birds lack prosocial tendencies. Alternatively, we propose that this absence of prosociality may stem from the artificial nature and cognitive complexity of the token transfer task. Consequently, our findings highlight the strong impact of methodology on animals' capability to exhibit prosocial tendencies and stress the importance of comparing multiple experimental paradigms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisa Horn
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (T.B.); (J.J.M.M.)
| | - Jeroen S. Zewald
- Animal Behavior and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Thomas Bugnyar
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (T.B.); (J.J.M.M.)
| | - Jorg J. M. Massen
- Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstraße 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria; (T.B.); (J.J.M.M.)
- Animal Behavior and Cognition, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands;
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19
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Abstract
Goffin’s cockatoos, a parrot species endemic to the Tanimbar Islands in Indonesia, demonstrate remarkable cognitive skills across various technical tasks. These neophilic extractive foragers explore objects with their beak and feet, and are skilled in several modes of tool use. In this study, we confronted the animals for the first time with a vertical string-pulling setup, including a set of classic and novel controls. Nine of the 12 subjects, two of which were subadults, immediately interacted with the single-string task, with seven individuals successfully obtaining the reward on their very first attempt. Four different double string discrimination tests with varying spatial relations were used to assess the Goffin’s cockatoos’ apprehension of basic physical task properties. We found significant differences in performance between the respective experimental conditions, as well as the development of side biases. The results suggest that while the birds seem to consider simple cause–effect relationships, there is no evidence for a mental representation of the causal mechanisms underlying the string-pulling tasks, as subjects failed the crossed strings condition out of immediate sight. Finally, we provide suggestions on improving the methodology, and discuss our findings in regard to the Goffin’s cockatoo’s ecology.
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20
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Of Great Apes and Magpies: Initiations into Animal Behaviour. Animals (Basel) 2020; 10:ani10122369. [PMID: 33321971 PMCID: PMC7764213 DOI: 10.3390/ani10122369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2020] [Revised: 11/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Animal encounters have been favourite subjects for a long time and it would scarcely be novel to report such stories for their own sake, even though the ones told here are dramatic enough to stand on their own. The questions addressed in this paper are twofold. The first question is: What influence may particular and dramatic animal encounters have on the human observer and how dependent is such a response on previously held attitudes? This paper provides three cases studies of extraordinary moments that changed the lives of the human participants and turned them into advocates of the species they had encountered. The next question asked is how we can be respectful of animals without anthropomorphising them and study them in ways that help us understand their abilities and their needs rather than impose questions that mean much to the human researcher but could be irrelevant to the species? The examples given here compare and contrast species that are especially close to us (great apes) with studies of those that are distant from us in their evolution (birds) and show how different attitudes change the questions that can be asked by scientists, demonstrably leading to new and even stunning results. Abstract This paper presents three case studies of exceptional human encounters with animals. These particular examples were selected because they enabled analysis of the underlying reasons that led the human participants to respond in new ways to their animal counterparts. The question asked here is whether sudden insights into the needs and abilities of an animal arises purely from an anthropocentric position as empathy because of genetic closeness (e.g., chimpanzees) or is something else and whether new insights can be applied to other phylogenetic orders not close to us, e.g., birds, and change research questions and implicit prejudices and stereotypes. Particularly in avian species, phylogenetically distant from humans, the prejudices (anthroprocentric position) and the belief in human uniqueness (human exceptionalism) might be greater than in the reactions to primates. Interestingly, in studies of great apes, contradictory opinions and controversies about cognitive abilities, especially when compared with humans, tend to be pronounced. Species appropriateness in test designs are desirable present and future goals but here it is suggested how different experiences can also lead to different questions that explode the myth of human uniqueness and then arrive at entirely different and new results in cognitive and affective abilities of the species under investigation.
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21
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Maák I, Roelandt G, d'Ettorre P. A small number of workers with specific personality traits perform tool use in ants. eLife 2020; 9:61298. [PMID: 33295872 PMCID: PMC7725502 DOI: 10.7554/elife.61298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2020] [Accepted: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Ants use debris as tools to collect and transport liquid food to the nest. Previous studies showed that this behaviour is flexible whereby ants learn to use artificial material that is novel to them and select tools with optimal soaking properties. However, the process of tool use has not been studied at the individual level. We investigated whether workers specialise in tool use and whether there is a link between individual personality traits and tool use in the ant Aphaenogaster senilis. Only a small number of workers performed tool use and they did it repeatedly, although they also collected solid food. Personality predicted the probability to perform tool use: ants that showed higher exploratory activity and were more attracted to a prey in the personality tests became the new tool users when previous tool users were removed from the group. This suggests that, instead of extreme task specialisation, variation in personality traits within the colony may improve division of labour.
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Affiliation(s)
- István Maák
- Department of Ecology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.,Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Garyk Roelandt
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology UR 4443, University Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse, France
| | - Patrizia d'Ettorre
- Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Ethology UR 4443, University Sorbonne Paris Nord, Villetaneuse, France.,Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Paris, France
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22
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Kaplan G. Play behaviour, not tool using, relates to brain mass in a sample of birds. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20437. [PMID: 33235248 PMCID: PMC7687885 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76572-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Play behaviour and tool using in birds, two well-delineated and amply researched behaviours, have generally been associated with cognitive abilities. In this study, these behaviours were related to relative brain mass in a sample of Australian native birds. Despite suggestive research results so far between cognition and tool using, this study found no significant difference in relative brain mass or in lifespan between tool-using birds and non-tool users. By contrast, in play behaviour, subdivided into social players and non-social players, the results showed statistically very clear differences in relative brain mass between social, non-social and non-players. Social play was associated with both the largest brain mass to body mass ratios and with the longest lifespans. The results show that play behaviour is a crucial variable associated with brain enlargement, not tool using. Since many of the tool using species tested so far also play, this study suggests that false conclusions can be drawn about the connection between tool using and cognitive ability when the silent variable (play behaviour) is not taken into account.
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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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23
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Laumer IB, Jelbert SA, Taylor AH, Rössler T, Auersperg AMI. Object manufacture based on a memorized template: Goffin's cockatoos attend to different model features. Anim Cogn 2020; 24:457-470. [PMID: 33113033 PMCID: PMC8128754 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01435-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
Although several nonhuman animals have the ability to recognize and match templates in computerized tasks, we know little about their ability to recall and then physically manufacture specific features of mental templates. Across three experiments, Goffin cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana), a species that can use tools in captivity, were exposed to two pre-made template objects, varying in either colour, size (long or short) or shape (I or L-shaped), where only one template was rewarded. Birds were then given the opportunity to manufacture versions of these objects themselves. We found that all birds carved paper strips from the same colour material as the rewarded template, and half were also able to match the size of a template (long and short). This occurred despite the template being absent at test and birds being rewarded at random. However, we found no evidence that cockatoos could carve L-shaped pieces after learning that L-shaped templates were rewarded, though their manufactured strips were wider than in previous tests. Overall, our results show that Goffin cockatoos possess the ability to physically adjust at least the size dimension of manufactured objects relative to a mental template. This ability has previously only been shown in New Caledonian crows, where template matching was suggested as a potential mechanism allowing for the cumulative cultural transmission of tool designs. Our results show that within avian tool users, the ability to recreate a physical template from memory does not seem to be restricted to species that have cumulative tool cultures.
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Affiliation(s)
- I B Laumer
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, Vienna, 1090, Austria.
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, 375 Portola Plaza, 341 Haines Hall, Box 951553, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
| | - S A Jelbert
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TU, UK
| | - A H Taylor
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - T Rössler
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine (other partner institutions: University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna), Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
| | - A M I Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine (other partner institutions: University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna), Veterinärplatz 1, 1210, Vienna, Austria
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24
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Cabrera-Álvarez MJ, Clayton NS. Neural Processes Underlying Tool Use in Humans, Macaques, and Corvids. Front Psychol 2020; 11:560669. [PMID: 33117228 PMCID: PMC7561402 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
It was thought that tool use in animals is an adaptive specialization. Recent studies, however, have shown that some non-tool-users, such as rooks and jays, can use and manufacture tools in laboratory settings. Despite the abundant evidence of tool use in corvids, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying tool use in this family of birds. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the neural processes underlying tool use in humans, macaques and corvids. We suggest a possible neural network for tool use in macaques and hope this might inspire research to discover a similar brain network in corvids. We hope to establish a framework to elucidate the neural mechanisms that supported the convergent evolution of tool use in birds and mammals.
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25
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Bräuer J, Hanus D, Pika S, Gray R, Uomini N. Old and New Approaches to Animal Cognition: There Is Not "One Cognition". J Intell 2020; 8:E28. [PMID: 32630788 PMCID: PMC7555673 DOI: 10.3390/jintelligence8030028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Using the comparative approach, researchers draw inferences about the evolution of cognition. Psychologists have postulated several hypotheses to explain why certain species are cognitively more flexible than others, and these hypotheses assume that certain cognitive skills are linked together to create a generally "smart" species. However, empirical findings suggest that several animal species are highly specialized, showing exceptional skills in single cognitive domains while performing poorly in others. Although some cognitive skills may indeed overlap, we cannot a priori assume that they do across species. We argue that the term "cognition" has often been used by applying an anthropocentric viewpoint rather than a biocentric one. As a result, researchers tend to overrate cognitive skills that are human-like and assume that certain skills cluster together in other animals as they do in our own species. In this paper, we emphasize that specific physical and social environments create selection pressures that lead to the evolution of certain cognitive adaptations. Skills such as following the pointing gesture, tool-use, perspective-taking, or the ability to cooperate evolve independently from each other as a concrete result of specific selection pressures, and thus have appeared in distantly related species. Thus, there is not "one cognition". Our argument is founded upon traditional Darwinian thinking, which-although always at the forefront of biology-has sometimes been neglected in animal cognition research. In accordance with the biocentric approach, we advocate a broader empirical perspective as we are convinced that to better understand animal minds, comparative researchers should focus much more on questions and experiments that are ecologically valid. We should investigate nonhuman cognition for its own sake, not only in comparison to the human model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliane Bräuer
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
- Department of General Psychology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Am Steiger 3, 07743 Jena, Germany
| | - Daniel Hanus
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Developmental and Comparative Psychology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Simone Pika
- Institute of Cognitive Science, Comparative BioCognition, University of Osnabrück, Artilleriestrasse 34, 49076 Osnabrück, Germany
| | - Russell Gray
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Natalie Uomini
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
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26
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Miller R, Gruber R, Frohnwieser A, Schiestl M, Jelbert SA, Gray RD, Boeckle M, Taylor AH, Clayton NS. Decision-making flexibility in New Caledonian crows, young children and adult humans in a multi-dimensional tool-use task. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0219874. [PMID: 32160191 PMCID: PMC7065838 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to make profitable decisions in natural foraging contexts may be influenced by an additional requirement of tool-use, due to increased levels of relational complexity and additional work-effort imposed by tool-use, compared with simply choosing between an immediate and delayed food item. We examined the flexibility for making the most profitable decisions in a multi-dimensional tool-use task, involving different apparatuses, tools and rewards of varying quality, in 3-5-year-old children, adult humans and tool-making New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides). We also compared our results to previous studies on habitually tool-making orangutans (Pongo abelii) and non-tool-making Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). Adult humans, cockatoos and crows, but not children and orangutans, did not select a tool when it was not necessary, which was the more profitable choice in this situation. Adult humans, orangutans and cockatoos, but not crows and children, were able to refrain from selecting non-functional tools. By contrast, the birds, but not the primates tested, struggled to attend to multiple variables-where two apparatuses, two tools and two reward qualities were presented simultaneously-without extended experience. These findings indicate: (1) in a similar manner to humans and orangutans, New Caledonian crows and Goffin's cockatoos can flexibly make profitable decisions in some decision-making tool-use tasks, though the birds may struggle when tasks become more complex; (2) children and orangutans may have a bias to use tools in situations where adults and other tool-making species do not.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachael Miller
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (RM); (AF)
| | - Romana Gruber
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland Central, New Zealand
| | - Anna Frohnwieser
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
- * E-mail: (RM); (AF)
| | - Martina Schiestl
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland Central, New Zealand
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Max Planck Society, Jena, Germany
| | - Sarah A. Jelbert
- School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, United Kingdom
| | - Russell D. Gray
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland Central, New Zealand
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Max Planck Society, Jena, Germany
| | - Markus Boeckle
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
| | - Alex H. Taylor
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland Central, New Zealand
| | - Nicola S. Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
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Manome N, Shinohara S, Suzuki K, Chen Y, Mitsuyoshi S. Constructing observational learning agents using self-organizing maps. ARTIFICIAL LIFE AND ROBOTICS 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s10015-019-00574-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Peng J, Dou YQ, Liang H, He S, Liang XF, Shi LJ. Social Learning of Acquiring Novel Feeding Habit in Mandarin Fish ( Siniperca chuatsi). Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20184399. [PMID: 31500232 PMCID: PMC6770103 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20184399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2019] [Revised: 08/29/2019] [Accepted: 09/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Social learning plays important roles in gaining new foraging skills and food preferences. However, the potential role and molecular mechanism of social learning in acquiring new feeding habits is less clear in fish. In the present study, we examined the success rate of feeding habit domestication from live prey fish to dead prey fish, as well as the food intake of dead prey fish in mandarin fish with or without feeders of dead prey fish as demonstrators. Here, we found that mandarin fish can learn from each other how to solve novel foraging tasks, feeding on dead prey fish. In addition, the analysis of gene expressions and signaling pathways of learning through Western blotting and transcriptome sequencing shows that the expression of the c-fos, fra2, zif268, c/ebpd and sytIV genes were significantly increased, and the anorexigenic pomc and leptin a expressions were decreased in fish of the learning group. The phosphorylation levels of protein kinase A (PKA) and Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) in the learning group were significantly higher than those of the control group, while the phosphorylation level of S6 ribosomal protein (S6) was lower. With the inhibitors of PKA and CaMKII signaling and the chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay, we further found that the social learning of new feeding habits in mandarin fish could be attributed to the activation of the CaMKII signaling pathway and then the stimulation of the expression of the c-fos gene, which might be an important transcriptional factor to inhibit the expression of the anorexigenic gene pomc, resulting in the food intake of dead prey fish in mandarin fish. Altogether, our results support the hypothesis that social learning could facilitate the acquisition of novel feeding habits in fish, and it considerably increases the rate of subsequent individual food intake and domestication through the interaction between the learning gene c-fos and the appetite control gene pomc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jian Peng
- College of Fisheries, Chinese Perch Research Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Ya-Qi Dou
- College of Fisheries, Chinese Perch Research Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Hui Liang
- College of Fisheries, Chinese Perch Research Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Shan He
- College of Fisheries, Chinese Perch Research Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China.
- Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China.
- Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan 430070, China.
| | - Xu-Fang Liang
- College of Fisheries, Chinese Perch Research Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan 430070, China
| | - Lin-Jie Shi
- College of Fisheries, Chinese Perch Research Center, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
- Freshwater Aquaculture Collaborative Innovation Center of Hubei Province, Wuhan 430070, China
- Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan 430070, China
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Carcea I, Froemke RC. Biological mechanisms for observational learning. Curr Opin Neurobiol 2019; 54:178-185. [PMID: 30529989 PMCID: PMC6361711 DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2018.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2018] [Revised: 10/26/2018] [Accepted: 11/26/2018] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Observational learning occurs when an animal capitalizes on the experience of another to change its own behavior in a given context. This form of learning is an efficient strategy for adapting to changes in environmental conditions, but little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms. There is an abundance of literature supporting observational learning in humans and other primates, and more recent studies have begun documenting observational learning in other species such as birds and rodents. The neural mechanisms for observational learning depend on the species' brain organization and on the specific behavior being acquired. However, as a general rule, it appears that social information impinges on neural circuits for direct learning, mimicking or enhancing neuronal activity patterns that function during pavlovian, spatial or instrumental learning. Understanding the biological mechanisms for social learning could boost translational studies into behavioral interventions for a wide range of learning disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioana Carcea
- Brain Health Institute, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, 07103 USA; Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ, 07103 USA; Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA; Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA; Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA
| | - Robert C Froemke
- Skirball Institute for Biomolecular Medicine, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA; Neuroscience Institute, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA; Department of Otolaryngology, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA; Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, 10016 USA.
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O’Hara M, Mioduszewska B, Haryoko T, Prawiradilaga D, Huber L, Auersperg A. Extraction without tooling around — The first comprehensive description of the foraging- and socio-ecology of wild Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). BEHAVIOUR 2019. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003523] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
When tested under laboratory conditions, Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana) demonstrate numerous sophisticated cognitive skills. Most importantly, this species has shown the ability to manufacture and use tools. However, little is known about the ecology of these cockatoos, endemic to the Tanimbar Islands in Indonesia. Here we provide first insights into the feeding- and socio-ecology of the wild Goffin’s cockatoos and propose potential links between their behaviour in natural settings and their advanced problem-solving capacities shown in captivity. Observational data suggests that Goffin’s cockatoos rely on a large variety of partially seasonal resources. Furthermore, several food types require different extraction techniques. These ecological and behavioural characteristics fall in line with current hypotheses regarding the evolution of complex cognition and innovativeness. We discuss how the efficiency of (extractive) foraging may preclude tool use in wild Goffin’s cockatoos, even though the corresponding cognitive and ecological prerequisites seem to be present.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. O’Hara
- aComparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - B. Mioduszewska
- aComparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
- bMax Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Straße, 82319 Seewiesen, Germany
| | - T. Haryoko
- cResearch Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jl. Raya Jakarta - Bogor Km.46 Cibinong 16911 Bogor, Indonesia
| | - D.M. Prawiradilaga
- cResearch Center for Biology, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, Jl. Raya Jakarta - Bogor Km.46 Cibinong 16911 Bogor, Indonesia
| | - L. Huber
- aComparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - A. Auersperg
- aComparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Veterinaerplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
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31
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Beinhauer I, Bugnyar T, Auersperg A. Prospective but not retrospective tool selection in the Goffin’s cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana). BEHAVIOUR 2019. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003515] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The ability to select the necessary means for a familiar task while the task itself or the respective tools are out of sight suggests a rudimentary form of planning. Here we investigated if and how a non-specialized tool using bird, the Goffin’s cockatoo, can prospectively or retrospectively select the functional tool in a decision-making task featuring two different types of apparatuses and their corresponding tools. Each apparatus could only be employed with one specific type of tool. Either the apparatus was presented and occluded prior to the presentation of the tools (prospective condition) or the tools were presented and occluded prior to the presentation of the apparatus (retrospective condition). Our results suggest the birds can prospectively but not retrospectively select the correct tool, paralleling previous research in tool using apes, and indicate at least simple forms of prospective selection in the tool use of a species distantly related to primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- I. Beinhauer
- aDepartment of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - T. Bugnyar
- aDepartment of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - A.M.I. Auersperg
- bUnit of Comparative Cognition, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna. Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
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Auersperg AMI, Köck C, O’Hara M, Huber L. Tool making cockatoos adjust the lengths but not the widths of their tools to function. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0205429. [PMID: 30403673 PMCID: PMC6221259 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2018] [Accepted: 09/25/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to innovatively use or even manufacture different tools depending on a current situation can be silhouetted against examples of stereotyped, inborn tool use/manufacture and is thus often associated to advanced cognitive processing. In this study we confronted non-specialized, yet innovative tool making birds, Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana), with an apparatus featuring an out-of-reach food reward that could be placed at different distances from a tool opening. Alternatively, the food stayed at a constant distance but the tool opening in the front of the apparatus had different diameters. We used a novel material for tool manufacture (cardboard) that demanded an incrementally increased manufacturing effort from the actor, depending on the length of the tool required. We found that our subjects used two strategies to succeed in this tasks: either by making carboard-stripe tools using the full length of the material sheets originally offered or by adjusting the lengths of their tools to different goal distances. Subjects also discarded cardboard stripes that were too short to reach the goal prior to use and discarded longer pieces when the goal was further away than when it was close. Nevertheless, likely due to morphological constraints, the birds failed to adjust the widths of their tools depending on the diameter of the tool opening.
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Affiliation(s)
- A. M. I. Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - C. Köck
- Department of Cognitive Biology University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - M. O’Hara
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - L. Huber
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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33
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Jelbert SA, Hosking RJ, Taylor AH, Gray RD. Mental template matching is a potential cultural transmission mechanism for New Caledonian crow tool manufacturing traditions. Sci Rep 2018; 8:8956. [PMID: 29955154 PMCID: PMC6023922 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-27405-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2017] [Accepted: 06/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Cumulative cultural evolution occurs when social traditions accumulate improvements over time. In humans cumulative cultural evolution is thought to depend on a unique suite of cognitive abilities, including teaching, language and imitation. Tool-making New Caledonian crows show some hallmarks of cumulative culture; but this claim is contentious, in part because these birds do not appear to imitate. One alternative hypothesis is that crows’ tool designs could be culturally transmitted through a process of mental template matching. That is, individuals could use or observe conspecifics’ tools, form a mental template of a particular tool design, and then reproduce this in their own manufacture – a process analogous to birdsong learning. Here, we provide the first evidence supporting this hypothesis, by demonstrating that New Caledonian crows have the cognitive capacity for mental template matching. Using a novel manufacture paradigm, crows were first trained to drop paper into a vending machine to retrieve rewards. They later learnt that only items of a particular size (large or small templates) were rewarded. At test, despite being rewarded at random, and with no physical templates present, crows manufactured items that were more similar in size to previously rewarded, than unrewarded, templates. Our results provide the first evidence that this cognitive ability may underpin the transmission of New Caledonian crows’ natural tool designs.
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Affiliation(s)
- S A Jelbert
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. .,School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand.
| | - R J Hosking
- Center for e-Research, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - A H Taylor
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand
| | - R D Gray
- School of Psychology, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand.,Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, 07745, Germany.,Research School of the Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, Australia
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34
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Within-group relationships and lack of social enhancement during object manipulation in captive Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). Learn Behav 2018; 45:7-19. [PMID: 27406172 PMCID: PMC5325860 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-016-0235-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Different types of social relationships can influence individual learning strategies in structured groups of animals. Studies on a number of avian species have suggested that local and/or stimulus enhancement are important ingredients of the respective species’ exploration modes. Our aim was to identify the role of enhancement during object manipulation in different social contexts. We used focal observations to identify a linear dominance hierarchy as well as affiliative relationships between individuals in a group of 14 Goffin’s cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana, formerly goffini). Thereafter, in an unrewarded object choice task, several pairs of subjects were tested for a possible influence of social enhancement (local vs. stimulus) in three conditions: dominance, affiliation, and kinship. Our results suggest strong individual biases. Whereas previous studies on ravens and kea had indicated that enhancement in a non-food-related task was influenced by the social relationship between a demonstrator and an observer (affiliated – nonaffiliated), we found no such effects in our study group. In this context, Goffin’s cockatoos’ object learning seems to take place more on an individual level, despite their generally high motivation to manipulate nonfood items.
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35
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The interplay between psychological predispositions and skill learning in the evolution of tool use. Curr Opin Behav Sci 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
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36
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Abstract
Questions related to the uniqueness of language can only be addressed properly by referring to sound knowledge of the relevant cognitive abilities of nonhuman animals. A key question concerns the nature and extent of animal rule-learning abilities. I discuss two approaches used to assess these abilities. One is comparing the structures of animal vocalizations to linguistic ones, and another is addressing the grammatical rule- and pattern-learning abilities of animals through experiments using artificial grammars. Neither of these approaches has so far provided unambiguous evidence of advanced animal abilities. However, when we consider how animal vocalizations are analyzed, the types of stimuli and tasks that are used in artificial grammar learning experiments, the limited number of species examined, and the groups to which these belong, I argue that the currently available evidence is insufficient to arrive at firm conclusions concerning the limitations of animal grammatical abilities. As a consequence, the gap between human linguistic rule-learning abilities and those of nonhuman animals may be smaller and less clear than is currently assumed. This means that it is still an open question whether a difference in the rule-learning and rule abstraction abilities between animals and humans played the key role in the evolution of language.
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37
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Habl C, Auersperg AMI. The keybox: Shape-frame fitting during tool use in Goffin's cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). PLoS One 2017; 12:e0186859. [PMID: 29117242 PMCID: PMC5695585 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 10/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to move an object in alignment to a surface develops early in human ontogeny. However, aligning not just your own body but also the object itself in relation to a surface with a specific shape requires using landmarks rather than the own body as a frame of reference for orientation. The ability to do so is considered important in the development of tool use behaviour in human and non-human animals. Aside from humans, with the exception of a single study on habitually tool using primates, shape-frame matching abilities remain largely unstudied. The Goffin's cockatoo is a generalist parrot, and not a specialised tool user but has shown the capacity to innovate and use different types of tools under controlled settings. We tested these parrots in a tool selection and tool use task featuring objects and their corresponding substrate grooves in a number of shapes with different levels of symmetry. Subjects had to choose the correct 'key' to insert into a box, and align its shape to fit into the corresponding 'keyhole' in the box. The parrots were able to select the correct key above chance level from early on in the experiment. Despite their lack of hands, they required fewer placement attempts than primates to insert simple object shapes into corresponding grooves. For complex shapes, they reduced their insertion effort by rotating shapes in their beak while avoiding as many protrusions as possible. Unrewarded play experience with similar object shapes was provided to some of the subjects previously to testing, but did not seem to have an effect on the number of correct choices or on insertion effort.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cornelia Habl
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alice Marie Isabel Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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38
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Kabadayi C, Krasheninnikova A, O'Neill L, van de Weijer J, Osvath M, von Bayern AMP. Are parrots poor at motor self-regulation or is the cylinder task poor at measuring it? Anim Cogn 2017; 20:1137-1146. [PMID: 28929247 PMCID: PMC5640728 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1131-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Revised: 08/22/2017] [Accepted: 09/12/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The ability to inhibit unproductive motor responses triggered by salient stimuli is a fundamental inhibitory skill. Such motor self-regulation is thought to underlie more complex cognitive mechanisms, like self-control. Recently, a large-scale study, comparing 36 species, found that absolute brain size best predicted competence in motor inhibition, with great apes as the best performers. This was challenged when three Corvus species (corvids) were found to parallel great apes despite having much smaller absolute brain sizes. However, new analyses suggest that it is the number of pallial neurons, and not absolute brain size per se, that correlates with levels of motor inhibition. Both studies used the cylinder task, a detour-reaching test where food is presented behind a transparent barrier. We tested four species from the order Psittaciformes (parrots) on this task. Like corvids, many parrots have relatively large brains, high numbers of pallial neurons, and solve challenging cognitive tasks. Nonetheless, parrots performed markedly worse than the Corvus species in the cylinder task and exhibited strong learning effects in performance and response times. Our results suggest either that parrots are poor at controlling their motor impulses, and hence that pallial neuronal numbers do not always correlate with such skills, or that the widely used cylinder task may not be a good measure of motor inhibition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Can Kabadayi
- Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 22100, Lund, Sweden.
| | - Anastasia Krasheninnikova
- Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-str., 82319, Seewiesen, Germany
- Max-Planck Comparative Cognition Research Station, Loro Parque Fundacíon, 38400, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain
| | - Laurie O'Neill
- Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-str., 82319, Seewiesen, Germany
- Max-Planck Comparative Cognition Research Station, Loro Parque Fundacíon, 38400, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain
| | - Joost van de Weijer
- Centre for Languages and Literature, Lund University, Helgonabacken 12, 22362, Lund, Sweden
| | - Mathias Osvath
- Department of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Helgonavägen 3, 22100, Lund, Sweden
| | - Auguste M P von Bayern
- Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-str., 82319, Seewiesen, Germany.
- Max-Planck Comparative Cognition Research Station, Loro Parque Fundacíon, 38400, Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain.
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Auersperg AMI, Borasinski S, Laumer I, Kacelnik A. Goffin's cockatoos make the same tool type from different materials. Biol Lett 2017; 12:rsbl.2016.0689. [PMID: 27852942 PMCID: PMC5134049 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Accepted: 10/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Innovative tool manufacture is rare and hard to isolate in animals. We show that an Indonesian generalist parrot, the Goffin's cockatoo, can flexibly and spontaneously transfer the manufacture of stick-type tools across three different materials. Each material required different manipulation patterns, including substrates that required active sculpting for achieving a functional, elongated shape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alice M I Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - Stefan Borasinski
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Isabelle Laumer
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - Alex Kacelnik
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS Oxford, UK
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40
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Laumer IB, Bugnyar T, Reber SA, Auersperg AMI. Can hook-bending be let off the hook? Bending/unbending of pliant tools by cockatoos. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 284:20171026. [PMID: 28878059 PMCID: PMC5597828 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2017] [Accepted: 07/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The spontaneous crafting of hook-tools from bendable material to lift a basket out of a vertical tube in corvids has widely been used as one of the prime examples of animal tool innovation. However, it was recently suggested that the animals' solution was hardly innovative but strongly influenced by predispositions from habitual tool use and nest building. We tested Goffin's cockatoo, which is neither a specialized tool user nor a nest builder, on a similar task set-up. Three birds individually learned to bend hook tools from straight wire to retrieve food from vertical tubes and four subjects unbent wire to retrieve food from horizontal tubes. Pre-experience with ready-made hooks had some effect but was not necessary for success. Our results indicate that the ability to represent and manufacture tools according to a current need does not require genetically hardwired behavioural routines, but can indeed arise innovatively from domain general cognitive processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- I B Laumer
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - T Bugnyar
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
| | - S A Reber
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstr. 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine (other partner institutions: University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna), Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
| | - A M I Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine (other partner institutions: University of Vienna, Medical University of Vienna), Veterinärplatz 1, 1210 Vienna, Austria
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Landová E, Hotová Svádová K, Fuchs R, Štys P, Exnerová A. The effect of social learning on avoidance of aposematic prey in juvenile great tits (Parus major). Anim Cogn 2017. [PMID: 28639012 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1106-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Social learning plays an important role in acquiring new foraging skills and food preferences in many bird species but its potential role in learning to avoid aposematic prey has never been studied. We tested the effect of social learning on the acquisition of avoidance of aposematic insect prey (firebug Pyrrhocoris apterus; Heteroptera) in juvenile, hand-reared great tits (Parus major). Behaviour towards aposematic prey was compared between two groups of birds: (1) the observers that were, prior to encounter with firebugs, allowed to watch the experienced conspecific demonstrator repeatedly refuse to attack the prey, and (2) the control birds that lacked this opportunity. Observing an experienced demonstrator was not sufficient for learning complete avoidance, because birds from both groups attacked at least the first firebug they had encountered in avoidance training. However, the opportunity to observe the avoidance behaviour of another bird significantly increased the rate of subsequent individual learning of observers in comparison with control birds. Social learning also decreased mortality of firebugs killed by the birds during the avoidance learning. Socially enhanced learning to avoid aposematic prey might be a mechanism important especially for naive juvenile birds learning from their parents, but it could also enhance learning in adults from their more experienced flock mates. Because social learning of avoidance may also lead to decreased mortality of aposematic prey, its effect should be taken into account in scenarios considering evolution and maintenance of prey warning signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Landová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Kateřina Hotová Svádová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Roman Fuchs
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Štys
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Alice Exnerová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
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Howard LH, Wagner KE, Woodward AL, Ross SR, Hopper LM. Social Models Enhance Apes' Memory for Novel Events. Sci Rep 2017; 7:40926. [PMID: 28106098 PMCID: PMC5247682 DOI: 10.1038/srep40926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Nonhuman primates are more likely to learn from the actions of a social model than a non-social "ghost display", however the mechanism underlying this effect is still unknown. One possibility is that live models are more engaging, drawing increased attention to social stimuli. However, recent research with humans has suggested that live models fundamentally alter memory, not low-level attention. In the current study, we developed a novel eye-tracking paradigm to disentangle the influence of social context on attention and memory in apes. Tested in two conditions, zoo-housed apes (2 gorillas, 5 chimpanzees) were familiarized to videos of a human hand (social condition) and mechanical claw (non-social condition) constructing a three-block tower. During the memory test, subjects viewed side-by-side pictures of the previously-constructed block tower and a novel block tower. In accordance with looking-time paradigms, increased looking time to the novel block tower was used to measure event memory. Apes evidenced memory for the event featuring a social model, though not for the non-social condition. This effect was not dependent on attention differences to the videos. These findings provide the first evidence that, like humans, social stimuli increase nonhuman primates' event memory, which may aid in information transmission via social learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren H. Howard
- Department of Psychology, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, 17603, USA
| | - Katherine E. Wagner
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA
| | - Amanda L. Woodward
- Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60637, USA
| | - Stephen R. Ross
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA
| | - Lydia M. Hopper
- Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, IL, 60614, USA
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How New Caledonian crows solve novel foraging problems and what it means for cumulative culture. Learn Behav 2017; 44:18-28. [PMID: 26276368 DOI: 10.3758/s13420-015-0194-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
New Caledonian crows make and use tools, and tool types vary over geographic landscapes. Social learning may explain the variation in tool design, but it is unknown to what degree social learning accounts for the maintenance of these designs. Indeed, little is known about the mechanisms these crows use to obtain information from others, despite the question's importance in understanding whether tool behavior is transmitted via social, genetic, or environmental means. For social transmission to account for tool-type variation, copying must utilize a mechanism that is action specific (e.g., pushing left vs. right) as well as context specific (e.g., pushing a particular object vs. any object). To determine whether crows can copy a demonstrator's actions as well as the contexts in which they occur, we conducted a diffusion experiment using a novel foraging task. We used a nontool task to eliminate any confounds introduced by individual differences in their prior tool experience. Two groups had demonstrators (trained in isolation on different options of a four-option task, including a two-action option) and one group did not. We found that crows socially learn about context: After observers see a demonstrator interact with the task, they are more likely to interact with the same parts of the task. In contrast, observers did not copy the demonstrator's specific actions. Our results suggest it is unlikely that observing tool-making behavior transmits tool types. We suggest it is possible that tool types are transmitted when crows copy the physical form of the tools they encounter.
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Lambert ML, Seed AM, Slocombe KE. A novel form of spontaneous tool use displayed by several captive greater vasa parrots (Coracopsis vasa). Biol Lett 2017; 11:20150861. [PMID: 26673936 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Parrots are frequently cited for their sophisticated problem-solving abilities, but cases of habitual tool use among psittacines are scarce. We report the first evidence, to our knowledge, of tool use by greater vasa parrots (Coracopsis vasa). Several members of a captive population spontaneously adopted a novel tool-using technique by using pebbles and date pits either (i) to scrape on the inner surface of seashells, subsequently licking the resulting calcium powder from the tool, or (ii) as a wedge to break off smaller pieces of the shell for ingestion. Tool use occurred most frequently just prior to the breeding season, during which time numerous instances of tool transfer were also documented. These observations provide new insights into the tool-using capabilities of parrots and highlight the greater vasa parrot as a species of interest for studies of physical cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan L Lambert
- Department of Psychology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Amanda M Seed
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, UK
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Psittacine cognition: Individual differences and sources of variation. Behav Processes 2017; 134:103-109. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.11.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Revised: 11/13/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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Guillette LM, Healy SD. The roles of vocal and visual interactions in social learning zebra finches: A video playback experiment. Behav Processes 2016; 139:43-49. [PMID: 28043844 PMCID: PMC5409801 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2016] [Revised: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The transmission of information from an experienced demonstrator to a naïve observer often depends on characteristics of the demonstrator, such as familiarity, success or dominance status. Whether or not the demonstrator pays attention to and/or interacts with the observer may also affect social information acquisition or use by the observer. Here we used a video-demonstrator paradigm first to test whether video demonstrators have the same effect as using live demonstrators in zebra finches, and second, to test the importance of visual and vocal interactions between the demonstrator and observer on social information use by the observer. We found that female zebra finches copied novel food choices of male demonstrators they saw via live-streaming video while they did not consistently copy from the demonstrators when they were seen in playbacks of the same videos. Although naive observers copied in the absence of vocalizations by the demonstrator, as they copied from playback of videos with the sound off, females did not copy where there was a mis-match between the visual information provided by the video and vocal information from a live male that was out of sight. Taken together these results suggest that video demonstration is a useful methodology for testing social information transfer, at least in a foraging context, but more importantly, that social information use varies according to the vocal interactions, or lack thereof, between the observer and the demonstrator.
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Guillette LM, Scott ACY, Healy SD. Social learning in nest-building birds: a role for familiarity. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20152685. [PMID: 27009230 PMCID: PMC4822453 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2015] [Accepted: 02/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
It is becoming apparent that birds learn from their own experiences of nest building. What is not clear is whether birds can learn from watching conspecifics build. As social learning allows an animal to gain information without engaging in costly trial-and-error learning, first-time builders should exploit the successful habits of experienced builders. We presented first-time nest-building male zebra finches with either a familiar or an unfamiliar conspecific male building with material of a colour the observer did not like. When given the opportunity to build, males that had watched a familiar male build switched their material preference to that used by the familiar male. Males that observed unfamiliar birds did not. Thus, first-time nest builders use social information and copy the nest material choices when demonstrators are familiar but not when they are strangers. The relationships between individuals therefore influence how nest-building expertise is socially transmitted in zebra finches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren M Guillette
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Alice C Y Scott
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Susan D Healy
- School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK
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Diffusion of novel foraging behaviour in Amazon parrots through social learning. Anim Cogn 2016; 20:285-298. [PMID: 27785585 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1049-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2016] [Revised: 10/12/2016] [Accepted: 10/19/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
While social learning has been demonstrated in species across many taxa, the role it plays in everyday foraging decisions is not well understood. Investigating social learning during foraging could shed light on the emergence of cultural variation in different groups. We used an open diffusion experiment to examine the spread of a novel foraging technique in captive Amazon parrots. Three groups were tested using a two-action foraging box, including experimental groups exposed to demonstrators using different techniques and control birds. We also examined the influence of agonistic and pilfering behaviour on task acquisition. We found evidence of social learning: more experimental birds than control birds interacted with and opened the box. The birds were, however, no more likely to use the demonstrated technique than the non-demonstrated one, making local or stimulus enhancement the most likely mechanism. Exhibiting aggression was positively correlated with box opening, whilst receiving aggression did not reduce motivation to engage with the box, indicating that willingness to defend access to the box was important in task acquisition. Pilfering food and success in opening the box were also positively correlated; however, having food pilfered did not affect victims' motivation to interact with the box. In a group context, pilfering may promote learning of new foraging opportunities. Although previous studies have demonstrated that psittacines are capable of imitation, in this naturalistic set-up there was no evidence that parrots copied the demonstrated opening technique. Foraging behaviour in wild populations of Amazons could therefore be facilitated by low-fidelity social learning mechanisms.
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Rutz C, Klump BC, Komarczyk L, Leighton R, Kramer J, Wischnewski S, Sugasawa S, Morrissey MB, James R, St Clair JJH, Switzer RA, Masuda BM. Discovery of species-wide tool use in the Hawaiian crow. Nature 2016; 537:403-7. [DOI: 10.1038/nature19103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2016] [Accepted: 07/12/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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