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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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Rössler T, Auersperg AM. Recent developments in parrot cognition: a quadrennial update. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:199-228. [PMID: 36547738 PMCID: PMC9877086 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01733-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Psittacines, along with corvids, are commonly referred to as 'feathered apes' due to their advanced cognitive abilities. Until rather recently, the research effort on parrot cognition was lagging behind that on corvids, however current developments show that the number of parrot studies is steadily increasing. In 2018, M. L. Lambert et al. provided a comprehensive review on the status of the most important work done so far in parrot and corvid cognition. Nevertheless, only a little more than 4 years after this publication, more than 50 new parrot studies have been published, some of them chartering completely new territory. On the 25th anniversary of Animal Cognition we think this warrants a detailed review of parrot cognition research over the last 4 years. We aim to capture recent developments and current trends in this rapidly expanding and diversifying field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa Rössler
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ,grid.10420.370000 0001 2286 1424Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Alice M. Auersperg
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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3
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Degrande R, Cornilleau F, Lansade L, Jardat P, Colson V, Calandreau L. Domestic hens succeed at serial reversal learning and perceptual concept generalisation using a new automated touchscreen device. Animal 2022; 16:100607. [PMID: 35963029 DOI: 10.1016/j.animal.2022.100607] [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: 02/21/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Improving the welfare of farm animals depends on our knowledge on how they perceive and interpret their environment; the latter depends on their cognitive abilities. Hence, limited knowledge of the range of cognitive abilities of farm animals is a major concern. An effective approach to explore the cognitive range of a species is to apply automated testing devices, which are still underdeveloped in farm animals. In screen-like studies, the uses of automated devices are few in domestic hens. We developed an original fully automated touchscreen device using digital computer-drawn colour pictures and independent sensible cells adapted for cognitive testing in domestic hens, enabling a wide range of test types from low to high complexity. This study aimed to test the efficiency of our device using two cognitive tests. We focused on tasks related to adaptive capacities to environmental variability, such as flexibility and generalisation capacities as this is a good start to approach more complex cognitive capacities. We implemented a serial reversal learning task, categorised as a simple cognitive test, and a delayed matching-to-sample (dMTS) task on an identity concept, followed by a generalisation test, categorised as more complex. In the serial reversal learning task, the hens performed equally for the two changing reward contingencies in only three reversal stages. In the dMTS task, the hens increased their performance rapidly throughout the training sessions. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, we present the first positive result of identity concept generalisation in a dMTS task in domestic hens. Our results provide additional information on the behavioural flexibility and concept understanding of domestic hens. They also support the idea that fully automated devices would improve knowledge of farm animals' cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Degrande
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France.
| | - Fabien Cornilleau
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
| | - Léa Lansade
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
| | - Plotine Jardat
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
| | - Violaine Colson
- INRAE, LPGP (Laboratoire de Physiologie et Génomique des Poissons), Campus de Beaulieu, F-35042 Rennes cedex, Ille-et-Vilaine, France
| | - Ludovic Calandreau
- CNRS, IFCE, INRAE, Université de Tours, PRC (Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements), F-37380 Nouzilly, Indre-et-Loire, France
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Serial visual reversal learning in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina). Anim Cogn 2022; 25:1183-1193. [PMID: 35864326 PMCID: PMC9617845 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-022-01653-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 06/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Progressively improving performance in a serial reversal learning (SRL) test has been associated with higher cognitive abilities and has served as a measure for cognitive/behavioral flexibility. Although the cognitive and sensory abilities of marine mammals have been subject of extensive investigation, and numerous vertebrate and invertebrate species were tested, SRL studies in aquatic mammals are sparse. Particularly in pinnipeds, a high degree of behavioral flexibility seems probable as they face a highly variable environment in air and underwater. Thus, we tested four harbor seals in a visual two-alternative forced-choice discrimination task and its subsequent reversals. We found significant individual differences in performance. One individual was able to solve 37 reversals showing progressive improvement of performance with a minimum of 6 errors in reversal 33. Two seals mastered two reversals, while one animal had difficulties in learning the discrimination task and failed to complete a single reversal. In conclusion, harbor seals can master an SRL experiment; however, the performance is inferior to results obtained in other vertebrates in comparable tasks. Future experiments will need to assess whether factors such as the modality addressed in the experiment have an influence on reversal learning performance or whether indeed, during evolution, behavioral flexibility has not specifically been favored in harbor seals.
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Lucon-Xiccato T. The contribution of executive functions to sex differences in animal cognition. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 138:104705. [PMID: 35605792 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
Cognitive sex differences have been reported in several vertebrate species, mostly in spatial abilities. Here, I review evidence of sex differences in a family of general cognitive functions that control behaviour and cognition, i.e., executive functions such as cognitive flexibility and inhibitory control. Most of this evidence derives from studies in teleost fish. However, analysis of literature from other fields (e.g., biomedicine, genetic, ecology) concerning mammals and birds reveals that more than 40% of species investigated exhibit sex differences in executive functions. Among species, the direction and magnitude of these sex differences vary greatly, even within the same family, suggesting sex-specific selection due to species' reproductive systems and reproductive roles of males and females. Evidence also suggests that sex differences in executive functions might provide males and females highly differentiated cognitive phenotypes. To understand the evolution of cognitive sex differences in vertebrates, future research should consider executive functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
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Allritz M, Call J, Schweller K, McEwen ES, de Guinea M, Janmaat KRL, Menzel CR, Dolins FL. Chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes) navigate to find hidden fruit in a virtual environment. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabm4754. [PMID: 35749496 PMCID: PMC9232100 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abm4754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/09/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Almost all animals navigate their environment to find food, shelter, and mates. Spatial cognition of nonhuman primates in large-scale environments is notoriously difficult to study. Field research is ecologically valid, but controlling confounding variables can be difficult. Captive research enables experimental control, but space restrictions can limit generalizability. Virtual reality technology combines the best of both worlds by creating large-scale, controllable environments. We presented six chimpanzees with a seminaturalistic virtual environment, using a custom touch screen application. The chimpanzees exhibited signature behaviors reminiscent of real-life navigation: They learned to approach a landmark associated with the presence of fruit, improving efficiency over time; they located this landmark from novel starting locations and approached a different landmark when necessary. We conclude that virtual environments can allow for standardized testing with higher ecological validity than traditional tests in captivity and harbor great potential to contribute to longstanding questions in primate navigation, e.g., the use of landmarks, Euclidean maps, or spatial frames of reference.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Allritz
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Josep Call
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Ken Schweller
- Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative, Des Moines, IA, USA
| | - Emma S. McEwen
- Department of Comparative Cultural Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig 04103, Germany
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JP, UK
| | - Miguel de Guinea
- Movement Ecology Lab, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Edmond J. Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel
| | - Karline R. L. Janmaat
- Evolutionary and Population Biology, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Department of Cognitive Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
- ARTIS Amsterdam Royal Zoo, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Charles R. Menzel
- Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Francine L. Dolins
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI, USA
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Bastos APM, Nelson XJ, Taylor AH. From the lab to the wild: how can captive studies aid the conservation of kea (Nestor notabilis)? Curr Opin Behav Sci 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2022.101131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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8
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Executive Functions in Birds. BIRDS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/birds3020013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Executive functions comprise of top-down cognitive processes that exert control over information processing, from acquiring information to issuing a behavioral response. These cognitive processes of inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility underpin complex cognitive skills, such as episodic memory and planning, which have been repeatedly investigated in several bird species in recent decades. Until recently, avian executive functions were studied in relatively few bird species but have gained traction in comparative cognitive research following MacLean and colleagues’ large-scale study from 2014. Therefore, in this review paper, the relevant previous findings are collected and organized to facilitate further investigations of these core cognitive processes in birds. This review can assist in integrating findings from avian and mammalian cognitive research and further the current understanding of executive functions’ significance and evolution.
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Nawroth C, Rosenberger K, Keil NM, Langbein J. Goats ( Capra hircus) From Different Selection Lines Differ in Their Behavioural Flexibility. Front Psychol 2022; 12:796464. [PMID: 35178010 PMCID: PMC8844551 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.796464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2021] [Accepted: 12/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Given that domestication provided animals with more stable environmental conditions, artificial selection by humans has likely affected animals' ability to learn novel contingencies and their ability to adapt to changing environments. In addition, the selection for specific traits in domestic animals might have an additional impact on subjects' behavioural flexibility, but also their general learning performance, due to a re-allocation of resources towards parameters of productivity. To test whether animals bred for high productivity would experience a shift towards lower learning performance, we compared the performance of dwarf goats (not selected for production, 15 subjects) and dairy goats (selected for high milk yield, 18 subjects) in a visual discrimination learning and reversal learning task. Goats were tested individually in a test compartment and were rewarded by choosing either a white or a black cup presented by the experimenter on a sliding board behind a crate. Once they reached a designated learning criterion in the initial learning task, they were transferred to the reversal learning task. To increase the heterogeneity of our test sample, data was collected by two experimenters at two research stations following a similar protocol. Goats of both selection lines did not differ in the initial discrimination learning task in contrast to the subsequent reversal learning task. Dairy goats reached the learning criterion slower compared to dwarf goats (dairy goats = 9.18 sessions; dwarf goats = 7.74 sessions; P = 0.016). Our results may indicate that the selection for milk production might have affected behavioural flexibility in goats. These differences in adapting to changing environmental stimuli might have an impact on animal welfare e.g., when subjects have to adapt to new environments or changes in housing and management routines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian Nawroth
- Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - Katrina Rosenberger
- Swiss Food Safety and Veterinary Office, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Agroscope Tanikon, Ettenhausen, Switzerland
| | - Nina M Keil
- Swiss Food Safety and Veterinary Office, Centre for Proper Housing of Ruminants and Pigs, Agroscope Tanikon, Ettenhausen, Switzerland
| | - Jan Langbein
- Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Dummerstorf, Germany
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Kawashima S, Yasumuro H, Ikeda Y. Plain-Body Octopus's ( Callistoctopus aspilosomatis) Learning about Objects via Both Visual and Tactile Sensory Inputs: A Pilot Study. Zoolog Sci 2021; 38:383-396. [PMID: 34664913 DOI: 10.2108/zs210034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2021] [Accepted: 05/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Although various recognizing abilities have been revealed for octopuses, they predominantly deal with only a few species. Therefore, cognition diversity among other octopus species that have been overlooked needs to be investigated. We investigated whether plain-body octopus can learn a symbolic stimulus, for the reason that this octopus is abundant around Okinawa Island with a complex coral community landscape. Attention was paid to whether an octopus can learn a stimulus based solely on visual information without previous experience of learning it tactilely as well as visually. Furthermore, we examined whether different sensory inputs affect learning in octopuses. First, we tested whether octopuses can be conditioned to three different stimuli (object, picture, and video of a white cross). Octopuses that were presented an object or a picture could learn to touch them. However, octopuses that were presented a video could not learn to touch the stimulus. Second, we showed a video to octopuses that had already learned about an object or a picture to investigate whether the octopuses, having experienced a target using visual and tactile senses, can recognize a video of the target based solely on visual information. Octopuses could learn to touch the video. When a conditioned stimulus and a novel stimulus were simultaneously presented on a computer screen, an octopus that had learned an object more often selected the conditioned stimulus when compared with an octopus that had experienced only a picture. These findings suggest that octopuses use multisensory information to recognize a specific object.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumire Kawashima
- Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan
| | - Haruhiko Yasumuro
- Graduate School of Engineering and Science, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan
| | - Yuzuru Ikeda
- Faculty of Science, University of the Ryukyus, Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903-0213, Japan,
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Bastos APM, Wood PM, Taylor AH. Are parrots naive realists? Kea behave as if the real and virtual worlds are continuous. Biol Lett 2021; 17:20210298. [PMID: 34582738 PMCID: PMC8478516 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/06/2021] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Human psychology and animal cognition have increasingly used virtual stimuli to test cognitive abilities, with the expectation that participants are 'naive realists', that is, that they perceive virtual environments as both equivalent and continuous with real-life equivalents. However, there have been no attempts to investigate whether nonhuman subjects in fact behave as if physical processes in the virtual and real worlds are continuous. As kea parrots have previously shown the ability to transfer knowledge between real stimuli and both images on paper and images on touchscreens, here we test whether kea behave as naive realists and so expect physical processes to be continuous between the physical and virtual worlds. We find that, unlike infants, kea do not discriminate between these two contexts, and that they do not exhibit a preference for either. Our findings therefore validate the use of virtual stimuli as a powerful tool for testing the cognition of nonhuman animal species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amalia P. M. Bastos
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
| | - Patrick M. Wood
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
| | - Alex H. Taylor
- School of Psychology, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
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Task-dependent reversal learning dynamics challenge the reversal paradigm of measuring cognitive flexibility. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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Kea (Nestor notabilis) show flexibility and individuality in within-session reversal learning tasks. Anim Cogn 2021; 24:1339-1351. [PMID: 34110523 PMCID: PMC8492579 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-021-01524-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2020] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 05/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
The midsession reversal paradigm confronts an animal with a two-choice discrimination task where the reward contingencies are reversed at the midpoint of the session. Species react to the reversal with either win-stay/lose-shift, using local information of reinforcement, or reversal estimation, using global information, e.g. time, to estimate the point of reversal. Besides pigeons, only mammalian species were tested in this paradigm so far and analyses were conducted on pooled data, not considering possible individually different responses. We tested twelve kea parrots with a 40-trial midsession reversal test and additional shifted reversal tests with a variable point of reversal. Birds were tested in two groups on a touchscreen, with the discrimination task having either only visual or additional spatial information. We used Generalized Linear Mixed Models to control for individual differences when analysing the data. Our results demonstrate that kea can use win-stay/lose-shift independently of local information. The predictors group, session, and trial number as well as their interactions had a significant influence on the response. Furthermore, we discovered notable individual differences not only between birds but also between sessions of individual birds, including the ability to quite accurately estimate the reversal position in alternation to win-stay/lose-shift. Our findings of the kea’s quick and flexible responses contribute to the knowledge of diversity in avian cognitive abilities and emphasize the need to consider individuality as well as the limitation of pooling the data when analysing midsession reversal data.
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Sex differences in learning flexibility in an avian brood parasite, the shiny cowbird. Behav Processes 2021; 189:104438. [PMID: 34087347 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2021] [Revised: 05/04/2021] [Accepted: 05/28/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Females of brood parasitic shiny cowbirds, Molothrus bonariensis, search and prospect host nests, synchronizing parasitism with host laying. This behavior is sex-specific, as females perform this task without male's assistance. Host nests must be removed from the female's memory "library" after being parasitized, to avoid repeated parasitism, or when they become unavailable because of predation. Thus, females must adjust their stored information about host nest status more dynamically than males, possibly leading to differences in learning flexibility. We tested for sex differences in a visual (local cues) and a spatial discrimination reversal learning task, expecting females to outperform males as an expression of greater behavioral flexibility. Both sexes learned faster the spatial than the visual task during both acquisition and reversal. In the visual task there were no sex differences in acquisition, but females reversed faster than males. In the spatial task there were no sex differences during either acquisition or reversal, possibly because of a ceiling effect: both sexes learned too fast for differences in performance to be detectable. Faster female reversal in a visual but not spatial task indicates that the greater behavioral flexibility in females may only be detectable above some level of task difficulty.
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Automated Operant Conditioning Devices for Fish. Do They Work? Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11051397. [PMID: 34068933 PMCID: PMC8156027 DOI: 10.3390/ani11051397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2020] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 05/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Automated training devices are commonly used for investigating learning, memory, and other cognitive functions in warm-blood vertebrates, whereas manual training procedures are the standard in fish and other lower vertebrates, thus limiting comparison among species. Here, we directly compared the two different approaches to training in guppies (Poecilia reticulata) by administering numerical discrimination tasks of increasing difficulty. The automated device group showed a much lower performance compared to the traditionally-trained group. We modified some features of the automated device in order to improve its efficiency. Increasing the decision time or inter-trial interval was ineffective, while reducing the cognitive load and allowing subjects to reside in the test tank improved numerical performance. Yet, in no case did subjects match the performance of traditionally-trained subjects, suggesting that small teleosts may be limited in their capacity to cope with operant conditioning devices. Abstract The growing use of teleosts in comparative cognition and in neurobiological research has prompted many researchers to develop automated conditioning devices for fish. These techniques can make research less expensive and fully comparable with research on warm-blooded species, in which automated devices have been used for more than a century. Tested with a recently developed automated device, guppies (Poecilia reticulata) easily performed 80 reinforced trials per session, exceeding 80% accuracy in color or shape discrimination tasks after only 3–4 training session, though they exhibit unexpectedly poor performance in numerical discrimination tasks. As several pieces of evidence indicate, guppies possess excellent numerical abilities. In the first part of this study, we benchmarked the automated training device with a standard manual training procedure by administering the same set of tasks, which consisted of numerical discriminations of increasing difficulty. All manually-trained guppies quickly learned the easiest discriminations and a substantial percentage learned the more difficult ones, such as 4 vs. 5 items. No fish trained with the automated conditioning device reached the learning criterion for even the easiest discriminations. In the second part of the study, we introduced a series of modifications to the conditioning chamber and to the procedure in an attempt to improve its efficiency. Increasing the decision time, inter-trial interval, or visibility of the stimuli did not produce an appreciable improvement. Reducing the cognitive load of the task by training subjects first to use the device with shape and color discriminations, significantly improved their numerical performance. Allowing the subjects to reside in the test chamber, which likely reduced the amount of attentional resources subtracted to task execution, also led to an improvement, although in no case did subjects match the performance of fish trained with the standard procedure. Our results highlight limitations in the capacity of small laboratory teleosts to cope with operant conditioning automation that was not observed in laboratory mammals and birds and that currently prevent an easy and straightforward comparison with other vertebrates.
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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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Animal cognition in the field: performance of wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) on a reversal learning task. Anim Cogn 2020; 23:523-534. [PMID: 32026058 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01356-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2019] [Revised: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Increasingly, researchers are moving animal cognitive research into wild field settings. A field-based approach offers a valuable complement to laboratory-based studies, as it enables researchers to work with animals in their natural environments and indicates whether cognitive abilities found in captive subjects are generalizable to wild animals. It is thus important to field-based research to clarify which cognitive tasks can be replicated in wild settings, which species are suitable for testing in the wild, and whether replication produces similar results in wild animals. To address these issues, we modified a well-known lab test for field applications. The transfer index (TI) is a reversal learning task that tests whether animals rely on more associative or rule-based learning strategies (Rumbaugh in Primate behavior: developments in field and laboratory research. Academic Press, Inc., New York, pp. 2-66, 1970). In this paper, we detail changes needed to use a TI-like task in the field, here referred to as the Field Reversal Index (FRI). We tested a sample of nine wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) on the FRI task at Lake Nabugabo, Uganda. We show that wild primates can successfully be tested on reversal learning paradigms, and present findings that reinforce previous conclusions from captive experiments. Our results indicate that vervets, like other cercopithecoids, rely on associative learning rather than rule-based learning. Further, our results are consistent with previous research that reports improved performance post-reversal in younger individuals relative to older individuals. The FRI enables researchers to test animals both in the wild and in captivity to facilitate direct comparisons between the learning abilities of captive and wild animals.
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Kawashima S, Takei K, Yoshikawa S, Yasumuro H, Ikeda Y. Tropical Octopus Abdopus aculeatus Can Learn to Recognize Real and Virtual Symbolic Objects. THE BIOLOGICAL BULLETIN 2020; 238:12-24. [PMID: 32163727 DOI: 10.1086/707420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
We used three consecutive operant conditioning tasks to determine whether the tropical octopus Abdopus aculeatus is able to learn to recognize a symbolic object, in either real or virtual forms. In Experiment 1, we examined whether octopuses can be conditioned to a real object (a white ball) and whether such trained individuals can select the conditioned object when they are presented with an unconditioned object. We show that octopuses learned to respond to and select the conditioned white ball in preference to the unconditioned object. In Experiment 2, we examined whether octopuses can be conditioned to an object that gradually changes from real to virtual (i.e., an image of that object on a computer screen). We presented four types of objects, all variations of a white ball, in a stepwise sequence as a conditioned stimulus: a real white ball, a real image of a white ball without a margin, a real image of a white ball centered within a black margin, and a virtual image of a white ball (a video on a computer screen). Individual octopuses learned to respond to all three real objects, and then a subset of these octopuses responded to the virtual object. In Experiment 3, we examined whether an octopus can learn a virtual image of an object with a specific shape not tested in Experiments 1 and 2. We presented octopuses with an image of a white cross, which was placed at various distances (i.e., close, medium, and far). We found that after having learned these images, octopuses could learn the virtual white cross on a computer screen. Furthermore, when we simultaneously presented octopuses with a conditioned virtual object and an unconditioned virtual object, they selected the former. Through these three experiments, we confirmed that A. aculeatus can learn both real and virtual specific objects.
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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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21
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Lucon‐Xiccato T, Manabe K, Bisazza A. Guppies learn faster to discriminate between red and yellow than between two shapes. Ethology 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12829] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon‐Xiccato
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology University of Ferrara Padova Italy
| | - Kazuchika Manabe
- Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies Nihon University Saitama Japan
| | - Angelo Bisazza
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale Università di Padova Padova Italy
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Cauchoix M, Chow PKY, van Horik JO, Atance CM, Barbeau EJ, Barragan-Jason G, Bize P, Boussard A, Buechel SD, Cabirol A, Cauchard L, Claidière N, Dalesman S, Devaud JM, Didic M, Doligez B, Fagot J, Fichtel C, Henke-von der Malsburg J, Hermer E, Huber L, Huebner F, Kappeler PM, Klein S, Langbein J, Langley EJG, Lea SEG, Lihoreau M, Lovlie H, Matzel LD, Nakagawa S, Nawroth C, Oesterwind S, Sauce B, Smith EA, Sorato E, Tebbich S, Wallis LJ, Whiteside MA, Wilkinson A, Chaine AS, Morand-Ferron J. The repeatability of cognitive performance: a meta-analysis. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2018; 373:20170281. [PMID: 30104426 PMCID: PMC6107569 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2017.0281] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioural and cognitive processes play important roles in mediating an individual's interactions with its environment. Yet, while there is a vast literature on repeatable individual differences in behaviour, relatively little is known about the repeatability of cognitive performance. To further our understanding of the evolution of cognition, we gathered 44 studies on individual performance of 25 species across six animal classes and used meta-analysis to assess whether cognitive performance is repeatable. We compared repeatability (R) in performance (1) on the same task presented at different times (temporal repeatability), and (2) on different tasks that measured the same putative cognitive ability (contextual repeatability). We also addressed whether R estimates were influenced by seven extrinsic factors (moderators): type of cognitive performance measurement, type of cognitive task, delay between tests, origin of the subjects, experimental context, taxonomic class and publication status. We found support for both temporal and contextual repeatability of cognitive performance, with mean R estimates ranging between 0.15 and 0.28. Repeatability estimates were mostly influenced by the type of cognitive performance measures and publication status. Our findings highlight the widespread occurrence of consistent inter-individual variation in cognition across a range of taxa which, like behaviour, may be associated with fitness outcomes.This article is part of the theme issue 'Causes and consequences of individual differences in cognitive abilities'.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Cauchoix
- Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS UMR5321, Evolutionary Ecology Group, 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis, France
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Toulouse, France
| | - P K Y Chow
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
- Graduate School of Environmental Science, Division of Biospohere Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
| | - J O van Horik
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - C M Atance
- School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada
| | - E J Barbeau
- Centre de recherche Cerveau et Cognition, UPS-CNRS, UMR5549, Toulouse, France
| | - G Barragan-Jason
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Toulouse, France
| | - P Bize
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
| | - A Boussard
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrheniusväg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - S D Buechel
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrheniusväg 18B, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - A Cabirol
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - L Cauchard
- Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - N Claidière
- LPC, Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - S Dalesman
- Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK
| | - J M Devaud
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - M Didic
- AP-HM Timone & Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, Marseille, France
| | - B Doligez
- Department of Biometry and Evolutionary Biology, CNRS UMR 5558, Université Lyon 1, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France
| | - J Fagot
- LPC, Aix Marseille University, CNRS, Marseille, France
| | - C Fichtel
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - J Henke-von der Malsburg
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - E Hermer
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - L Huber
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - F Huebner
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - P M Kappeler
- Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Centre, Leibniz Institute for Primatology, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Department of Sociobiology/Anthropology, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach Institute for Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Kellnerweg 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
- Leibniz Science Campus 'Primate Cognition', Göttingen, Germany
| | - S Klein
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - J Langbein
- Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - E J G Langley
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - S E G Lea
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - M Lihoreau
- Research Center on Animal Cognition (CRCA), Center for Integrative Biology (CBI), CNRS, University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - H Lovlie
- IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
| | - L D Matzel
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - S Nakagawa
- Evolution & Ecology Research Centre and School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia
| | - C Nawroth
- Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany
| | - S Oesterwind
- Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | - B Sauce
- Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - E A Smith
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - E Sorato
- IFM Biology, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
| | - S Tebbich
- Department of Behavioural Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - L J Wallis
- Clever Dog Lab, Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University of Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Ethology, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - M A Whiteside
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - A Wilkinson
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK
| | - A S Chaine
- Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale du CNRS UMR5321, Evolutionary Ecology Group, 2 route du CNRS, 09200 Moulis, France
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, 21 allée de Brienne, 31015 Toulouse, France
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Buechel SD, Boussard A, Kotrschal A, van der Bijl W, Kolm N. Brain size affects performance in a reversal-learning test. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20172031. [PMID: 29367391 PMCID: PMC5805926 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2017] [Accepted: 12/13/2017] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
It has become increasingly clear that a larger brain can confer cognitive benefits. Yet not all of the numerous aspects of cognition seem to be affected by brain size. Recent evidence suggests that some more basic forms of cognition, for instance colour vision, are not influenced by brain size. We therefore hypothesize that a larger brain is especially beneficial for distinct and gradually more complex aspects of cognition. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the performance of brain size selected female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in two distinct aspects of cognition that differ in cognitive complexity. In a standard reversal-learning test we first investigated basic learning ability with a colour discrimination test, then reversed the reward contingency to specifically test for cognitive flexibility. We found that large-brained females outperformed small-brained females in the reversed-learning part of the test but not in the colour discrimination part of the test. Large-brained individuals are hence cognitively more flexible, which probably yields fitness benefits, as they may adapt more quickly to social and/or ecological cognitive challenges. Our results also suggest that a larger brain becomes especially advantageous with increasing cognitive complexity. These findings corroborate the significance of brain size for cognitive evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Séverine D Buechel
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Annika Boussard
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Alexander Kotrschal
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Wouter van der Bijl
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Niclas Kolm
- Department of Zoology/Ethology, Stockholm University, Svante Arrhenius väg 18B, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
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24
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Carducci P, Schwing R, Huber L, Truppa V. Tactile information improves visual object discrimination in kea, Nestor notabilis, and capuchin monkeys, Sapajus spp. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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25
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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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26
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Within-session reversal learning in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). Anim Cogn 2017; 20:975-983. [PMID: 28755139 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1117-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2016] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
In a midsession reversal (MSR) task, animals are typically presented with a simple, simultaneous discrimination (S1+, S2-) where contingencies are reversed (S1-, S2+) half-way through each session. This paradigm creates multiple, relevant cues that can aid in maximizing overall reinforcement. Recent research has shown that pigeons show systematic anticipatory and perseverative errors across the session, which increase as a function of proximity to the reversal trial. This behavior has been theorized to indicate primary control by temporal cues across the session, instead of the cues provided by recent reinforcement history that appear to control behavior shown by humans. Rats, however, appear to be guided by recent reinforcement history when tested in an operant context, thereby demonstrating behavior that parallels that seen in humans, but they appear to be guided by temporal cues when tested in an open-field apparatus, showing behavior more akin to that seen in pigeons. We tested rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on the MSR with a computerized simultaneous visual discrimination to assess whether they would show errors indicative of control by time or by recent reinforcement history. When a single reversal point occurred midsession, rhesus macaques showed no anticipation of the reversal and a similar level of perseveration to rats tested in an operant setting. Nearly identical results also were observed when the monkeys were trained with a single, variable reversal point or with multiple, variable reversal points within a session. These results indicate that temporal cues are not guiding response flexibility in rhesus macaque visual discrimination.
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27
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Chow PKY, Leaver LA, Wang M, Lea SEG. Touch screen assays of behavioural flexibility and error characteristics in Eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis). Anim Cogn 2017; 20:459-471. [PMID: 28130606 PMCID: PMC5394141 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-017-1072-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Revised: 12/17/2016] [Accepted: 01/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Behavioural flexibility allows animals to adjust their behaviours according to changing environmental demands. Such flexibility is frequently assessed by the discrimination–reversal learning task. We examined grey squirrels’ behavioural flexibility, using a simultaneous colour discrimination–reversal learning task on a touch screen. Squirrels were trained to select their non-preferred colour in the discrimination phase, and their preferred colour was rewarded in a subsequent reversal phase. We used error rates to divide learning in each phase into three stages (perseveration, chance level and ‘learned’) and examined response inhibition and head-switching during each stage. We found consistent behavioural patterns were associated with each learning stage: in the perseveration stage, at the beginning of each training phase, squirrels showed comparable response latencies to correct and incorrect stimuli, along with a low level of head-switching. They quickly overcame perseveration, typically in one to three training blocks. In the chance-level stage, response latencies to both stimuli were low, but during initial discrimination squirrels showed more head-switches than in the previous stage. This suggests that squirrels were learning the current reward contingency by responding rapidly to a stimulus, but with increased attention to both stimuli. In the learned stage, response latencies to the correct stimulus and the number of head-switches were at their highest, whereas incorrect response latencies were at their lowest, and differed significantly from correct response latencies. These results suggest increased response inhibition and attention allowed the squirrels to minimise errors. They also suggest that errors in the ‘learned’ stage were related to impulsive emission of the pre-potent or previously learned responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pizza Ka Yee Chow
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
| | - Lisa A Leaver
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK
| | - Ming Wang
- Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA
| | - Stephen E G Lea
- Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology Department, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK
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Lucon-Xiccato T, Dadda M, Gatto E, Bisazza A. Development and testing of a rapid method for measuring shoal size discrimination. Anim Cogn 2016; 20:149-157. [PMID: 27796658 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1050-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2016] [Revised: 10/19/2016] [Accepted: 10/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
The shoal-choice test is a popular method to investigate quantity discrimination in social fish based on their spontaneous preference for the larger of two shoals. The shoal-choice test usually requires a long observation time (20-30 min), mainly because fish switch between the two shoals with low frequency, thus reducing the possibilities of comparison. This duration limits the use of the shoal-choice test for large-scale screenings. Here, we developed a new version of the shoal-choice test in which the subject was confined in a large transparent cylinder in the middle of the tank throughout the experiment to bound the minimum distance from the stimulus shoals and favour switching. We tested the new method by observing guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in a 4 versus 6 fish discrimination (experiment 1). The new method allowed for a faster assessment of the preference for the larger shoal (<5 min), resulting in potential application for large population screenings. Guppies switched five times more frequently between the two shoals and remained close to the first chosen shoal ten times less compared to experiments with the old method. In experiment 2, we found that with the new method guppies were able to discriminate up to 5 versus 6 fish, a discrimination that was not achieved with the classical method. This last result indicates that minor methodological modifications can lead to very different findings in the same species and suggests that caution should be exercised when interpreting inter-specific differences in quantitative abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy.
| | - Marco Dadda
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Elia Gatto
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
| | - Angelo Bisazza
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Via Venezia 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
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Gatto E, Lucon-Xiccato T, Savaşçı BB, Dadda M, Bisazza A. Experimental setting affects the performance of guppies in a numerical discrimination task. Anim Cogn 2016; 20:187-198. [PMID: 27658676 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-1037-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Revised: 09/13/2016] [Accepted: 09/15/2016] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
A recent study found that guppies (Poecilia reticulata) can be trained to discriminate 4 versus 5 objects, a numerical discrimination typically achieved only by some mammals and birds. In that study, guppies were required to discriminate between two patches of small objects on the bottom of the tank that they could remove to find a food reward. It is not clear whether this species possesses exceptional numerical accuracy compared with the other ectothermic vertebrates or whether its remarkable performance was due to a specific predisposition to discriminate between differences in the quality of patches while foraging. To disentangle these possibilities, we trained guppies to the same numerical discriminations with a more conventional two-choice discrimination task. Stimuli were sets of dots presented on a computer screen, and the subjects received a food reward upon approaching the set with the larger numerosity. Though the cognitive problem was identical in the two experiments, the change in the experimental setting led to a much poorer performance as most fish failed even the 2 versus 3 discrimination. In four additional experiments, we varied the duration of the decision time, the type of stimuli, the length of training, and whether correction was allowed in order to identify the factors responsible for the difference. None of these parameters succeeded in increasing the performance to the level of the previous study, although the group trained with three-dimensional stimuli learned the easiest numerical task. We suggest that the different results with the two experimental settings might be due to constraints on learning and that guppies might be prepared to accurately estimate patch quality during foraging but not to learn an abstract stimulus-reward association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elia Gatto
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
| | | | - Beste Başak Savaşçı
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
| | - Marco Dadda
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Angelo Bisazza
- Department of General Psychology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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Lucon-Xiccato T, Dadda M. Guppies Show Behavioural but Not Cognitive Sex Differences in a Novel Object Recognition Test. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0156589. [PMID: 27305102 PMCID: PMC4909186 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2016] [Accepted: 05/17/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The novel object recognition (NOR) test is a widely-used paradigm to study learning and memory in rodents. NOR performance is typically measured as the preference to interact with a novel object over a familiar object based on spontaneous exploratory behaviour. In rats and mice, females usually have greater NOR ability than males. The NOR test is now available for a large number of species, including fish, but sex differences have not been properly tested outside of rodents. We compared male and female guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in a NOR test to study whether sex differences exist also for fish. We focused on sex differences in both performance and behaviour of guppies during the test. In our experiment, adult guppies expressed a preference for the novel object as most rodents and other species do. When we looked at sex differences, we found the two sexes showed a similar preference for the novel object over the familiar object, suggesting that male and female guppies have similar NOR performances. Analysis of behaviour revealed that males were more inclined to swim in the proximity of the two objects than females. Further, males explored the novel object at the beginning of the experiment while females did so afterwards. These two behavioural differences are possibly due to sex differences in exploration. Even though NOR performance is not different between male and female guppies, the behavioural sex differences we found could affect the results of the experiments and should be carefully considered when assessing fish memory with the NOR test.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
- * E-mail:
| | - Marco Dadda
- Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
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31
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O'Hara M, Schwing R, Federspiel I, Gajdon GK, Huber L. Reasoning by exclusion in the kea (Nestor notabilis). Anim Cogn 2016; 19:965-75. [PMID: 27209174 PMCID: PMC4967098 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-016-0998-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2015] [Revised: 05/12/2016] [Accepted: 05/14/2016] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Reasoning by exclusion, i.e. the ability to understand that if there are only two possibilities and if it is not A, it must be B, has been a topic of great interest in recent comparative cognition research. Many studies have investigated this ability, employing different methods, but rarely exploring concurrent decision processes underlying choice behaviour of non-human animals encountering inconsistent or incomplete information. Here, we employed a novel training and test method in order to perform an in-depth analysis of the underlying processes. Importantly, to discourage the explorative behaviour of the kea, a highly neophilic species, the training included a large amount of novel, unrewarded stimuli. The subsequent test consisted of 30 sessions with different sequences of four test trials. In these test trials, we confronted the kea with novel stimuli that were paired with either the rewarded or unrewarded training stimuli or with the novel stimuli of previous test trials. Once habituated to novelty, eight out of fourteen kea tested responded to novel stimuli by inferring their contingency via logical exclusion of the alternative. One individual inferred predominantly in this way, while other response strategies, such as one trial learning, stimulus preferences and avoiding the negative stimulus also guided the responses of the remaining individuals. Interestingly, the difficulty of the task had no influence on the test performance. We discuss the implications of these findings for the current hypotheses about the emergence of inferential reasoning in some avian species, considering causal links to brain size, feeding ecology and social complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark O'Hara
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. .,Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Raoul Schwing
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ira Federspiel
- Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Gyula K Gajdon
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ludwig Huber
- Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Medical University Vienna, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Affiliation(s)
- Amelia Wein
- Messerli Research Institute; University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; Medical University Vienna; University of Vienna; Vienna Austria
- Cognitive Science; Department of Philosophy; Faculty of Philosophy and Education; University of Vienna; Vienna Austria
| | - Gyula K. Gajdon
- Messerli Research Institute; University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; Medical University Vienna; University of Vienna; Vienna Austria
| | - Raoul Schwing
- Messerli Research Institute; University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna; Medical University Vienna; University of Vienna; Vienna Austria
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33
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Mustafar F, De Luna P, Rainer G. Enhanced visual exploration for real objects compared to pictures during free viewing in the macaque monkey. Behav Processes 2015; 118:8-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2015.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2015] [Revised: 05/19/2015] [Accepted: 05/19/2015] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
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