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Schnell AK, Farndale Wright NR, Clayton NS. The Inner Lives of Cephalopods. Integr Comp Biol 2023; 63:1298-1306. [PMID: 37757469 PMCID: PMC10755188 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icad122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 08/31/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The minds of cephalopods have captivated scientists for millennia, yet the extent that we can understand their subjective experiences remains contested. In this article, we consider the sum of our scientific progress towards understanding the inner lives of cephalopods. Here, we outline the behavioral responses to specific experimental paradigms that are helping us to reveal their subjective experiences. We consider evidence from three broad research categories, which help to illuminate whether soft-bodied cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish, and squid) have an awareness of self, awareness of others, and an awareness of time. Where there are current gaps in the literature, we outline cephalopod behaviors that warrant experimental investigation. We argue that investigations, especially framed through the lens of comparative psychology, have the potential to extend our understanding of the inner lives of this extraordinary class of animals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Nicola S Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK
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Pongrácz P, Dobos P, Faragó T, Kubinyi E, Lenkei R. Body size awareness matters when dogs decide whether to detour an obstacle or opt for a shortcut. Sci Rep 2023; 13:17899. [PMID: 37857698 PMCID: PMC10587091 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45241-w] [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: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Body-awareness is one of the fundamental modules of self-representation. We investigated how body-awareness could contribute to dogs' decision making in a novel spatial problem where multiple solutions are possible. Family dogs (N = 68) had to obtain a treat from behind a transparent fence. They had two options: either detour around the fence (7 m), or take a shortcut through a doorway (2 m). We had three conditions: small door open, large door open, and doors closed. Our results indicated that dogs assess the size of the doorway, and if they find it too small, they decide to detour instead, while in the case of the open large door, they rather opted for the shortcut without hesitation. Shorter headed dogs tended to choose open doors more often, while longer headed dogs rather chose detours, probably because of their better peripheral vision. While body size awareness did not manifest differently in dogs with short or long heads, we showed for the first time a connection between head shape and physical cognition in dogs. We showed that dogs rely on their body-awareness in a naturalistic setting where multiple solutions exist simultaneously. Dogs make decisions without lengthy trial-and-error learning and choose between options based on their body-awareness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Péter Pongrácz
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Petra Dobos
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Tamás Faragó
- MTA-ELTE Lendület "Momentum" Companion Animal Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
- Department of Ethology, Neuroethology of Communication Lab, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Enikő Kubinyi
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE Lendület "Momentum" Companion Animal Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Rita Lenkei
- Department of Ethology, Institute of Biology, Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter Sétány 1/C, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
- MTA-ELTE Lendület "Momentum" Companion Animal Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
- Doctoral School of Biology, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
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Khvatov IA, Sokolov AY, Kharitonov AN. Ferrets ( Mustela furo) Are Aware of Their Dimensions. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:ani13030444. [PMID: 36766333 PMCID: PMC9913545 DOI: 10.3390/ani13030444] [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: 12/18/2022] [Revised: 01/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Self-awareness is a complex phenomenon expressed as the ability of an individual to separate "self-entity" from "other entity". One of its earliest evolutionary components is body size awareness, namely, the ability to consider the boundaries of one's own body as factors influencing interaction with surrounding objects. For ferrets, Mustela furo, the task requiring the penetration of various holes is ecologically relevant. We designed an experimental study in which the ferrets were supposed to select one opening out of three to get the bait. The first experiment was aimed at studying whether ferrets would prefer the holes basing on the hole size. In the second experiment, we tested the ferrets' ability to select a single passable hole on the first try while the impassable ones were larger in area. Results from the first experiment show that when choosing from the three passable openings, the animals preferred the shortest path to the bait and ignored the size of the holes. In the second experiment, all tested ferrets preferred to penetrate the passable opening on the first attempt, even though the areas of the two impenetrable ones were larger. We argue that these data indicate that ferrets are aware of their own body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan A. Khvatov
- Center for Biopsychological Studies, Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, 121170 Moscow, Russia
- Correspondence: (I.A.K.); (A.N.K.); Tel.: +7-926-339-23-00 (I.A.K.); +7-916-370-3656 (A.N.K.)
| | - Alexey Yu. Sokolov
- Center for Biopsychological Studies, Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, 121170 Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander N. Kharitonov
- Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 129366 Moscow, Russia
- Correspondence: (I.A.K.); (A.N.K.); Tel.: +7-926-339-23-00 (I.A.K.); +7-916-370-3656 (A.N.K.)
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Khvatov IA, Smirnova AA, Samuleeva MV, Ershov EV, Buinitskaya SD, Kharitonov AN. Hooded Crows (Corvus cornix) May Be Aware of Their Own Body Size. Front Psychol 2021; 12:769397. [PMID: 34975660 PMCID: PMC8716556 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.769397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Body-awareness is one of the manifestations of self-awareness, expressed in the ability of people and animals to represent their own body physical properties. Relatively little work has been devoted to this phenomenon in comparison with the studies of the ability of self-recognition in the mirror, and most studies have been conducted on mammals and human infants. Crows are known to be “clever” birds, so we investigated whether hooded crows (Corvus cornix) may be aware of their own body size. We set up an experimental design in which the crows had to pass through one of three openings to reach the bait. In the first experiment, we studied whether crows prefer a larger hole if all the three are suitable for passage, and what other predictors influence their choice. In the second experiment, we assessed the ability of the crows to select a single passable hole out of three on the first attempt, even though the area of the former was smaller than that of the other two. The results of the first experiment suggest that when choosing among three passable holes, crows prefer those holes that require less effort from them, e.g., they do not need to crouch or make other additional movements. In the second experiment, three of the five crows reliably more often chose a single passable hole on the first try, despite its smaller size. We believe that these results suggest that hooded crows may be aware of their own body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan A. Khvatov
- Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, Moscow, Russia
- *Correspondence: Ivan A. Khvatov,
| | - Anna A. Smirnova
- Department of Higher Nervous Activity, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Maria V. Samuleeva
- Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, Moscow, Russia
- Department of Higher Nervous Activity, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Svetlana D. Buinitskaya
- Department of Higher Nervous Activity, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander N. Kharitonov
- Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Psychology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia
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Liew JH, Kho ZY, Lim RBH, Dingle C, Bonebrake TC, Sung YH, Dudgeon D. International socioeconomic inequality drives trade patterns in the global wildlife market. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:7/19/eabf7679. [PMID: 33952526 PMCID: PMC8099177 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf7679] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The wildlife trade is a major cause of species loss and a pathway for disease transmission. Socioeconomic drivers of the wildlife trade are influential at the local scale yet rarely accounted for in multinational agreements aimed at curtailing international trade in threatened species. In recent decades (1998-2018), approximately 421,000,000 threatened (i.e., CITES-listed) wild animals were traded between 226 nations/territories. The global trade network was more highly connected under conditions of greater international wealth inequality, when rich importers may have a larger economic advantage over poorer exporting nations/territories. Bilateral trade was driven primarily by socioeconomic factors at the supply end, with wealthier exporters likely to supply more animals to the global market. Our findings suggest that international policies for reducing the global wildlife trade should address inequalities between signatory states, possibly using incentive/compensation-driven programs modeled after other transnational environmental initiatives (e.g., REDD+).
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Huan Liew
- Division for Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR.
- Science Unit, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Zi Yi Kho
- School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Sha Tin, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Rayson Bock Hing Lim
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117558, Republic of Singapore
| | - Caroline Dingle
- Division for Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Timothy Carlton Bonebrake
- Division for Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Yik Hei Sung
- Science Unit, Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong SAR
| | - David Dudgeon
- Division for Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR
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Dogs (Canis familiaris) recognize their own body as a physical obstacle. Sci Rep 2021; 11:2761. [PMID: 33602955 PMCID: PMC7893002 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-82309-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Mental representations of one’s own body provide useful reference when negotiating physical environmental challenges. Body-awareness is a neuro-ontogenetic precursor for higher order self-representation, but there is a lack of an ecologically valid experimental approach to it among nonhuman species. We tested dogs (N = 32) in the ‘body as an obstacle’ task. They had to pick up and give an object to their owner, whilst standing on a small mat. In the test condition we attached the object to the mat, thus the dogs had to leave the mat because otherwise they could not lift the object. Dogs came off the mat more frequently and sooner in the test condition, than in the main control condition, where the object was attached to the ground. This is the first convincing evidence of body awareness through the understanding of the consequence of own actions in a species where previously no higher-order self-representation capacity was found. We urge for an ecologically valid approach, and following of bottom-up methods, in studying modularly constructed self-representation.
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Cazzolla Gatti R, Velichevskaya A, Gottesman B, Davis K. Grey wolf may show signs of self-awareness with the sniff test of self-recognition. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2020.1846628] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Roberto Cazzolla Gatti
- Biological Institute, Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russia
- Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
| | | | - Benjamin Gottesman
- Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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