Records |
Author |
Paz-y-Miño C. G.; Bond, A.B.; Kamil, A.C.; Balda, R.P. |
Title |
Pinyon jays use transitive inference to predict social dominance |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
Volume |
430 |
Issue |
7001 |
Pages |
778-781 |
Keywords |
Animals; Cognition/*physiology; Group Structure; Male; *Social Dominance; Songbirds/*physiology |
Abstract |
Living in large, stable social groups is often considered to favour the evolution of enhanced cognitive abilities, such as recognizing group members, tracking their social status and inferring relationships among them. An individual's place in the social order can be learned through direct interactions with others, but conflicts can be time-consuming and even injurious. Because the number of possible pairwise interactions increases rapidly with group size, members of large social groups will benefit if they can make judgments about relationships on the basis of indirect evidence. Transitive reasoning should therefore be particularly important for social individuals, allowing assessment of relationships from observations of interactions among others. Although a variety of studies have suggested that transitive inference may be used in social settings, the phenomenon has not been demonstrated under controlled conditions in animals. Here we show that highly social pinyon jays (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) draw sophisticated inferences about their own dominance status relative to that of strangers that they have observed interacting with known individuals. These results directly demonstrate that animals use transitive inference in social settings and imply that such cognitive capabilities are widespread among social species. |
Address |
Center for Avian Cognition, School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588, USA |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:15306809 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @; Equine Behaviour @ team @ room B 3.029 |
Serial |
352 |
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Author |
Shettleworth, S.J. |
Title |
Animal behaviour: planning for breakfast |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2007 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
Volume |
445 |
Issue |
7130 |
Pages |
825-826 |
Keywords |
Animals; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; *Food; Haplorhini/physiology; Memory/physiology; Songbirds/*physiology; Thinking/*physiology |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:17314961 |
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no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
356 |
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Author |
Shettleworth, S.J. |
Title |
Cognitive science: rank inferred by reason |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Nature |
Abbreviated Journal |
Nature |
Volume |
430 |
Issue |
7001 |
Pages |
732-733 |
Keywords |
Animals; Cognition/*physiology; Group Structure; Male; *Social Dominance; Songbirds/*physiology |
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1476-4687 |
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PMID:15306792 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
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365 |
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Author |
Shettleworth, S.J. |
Title |
Memory and hippocampal specialization in food-storing birds: challenges for research on comparative cognition |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Brain, behavior and evolution |
Abbreviated Journal |
Brain Behav Evol |
Volume |
62 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
108-116 |
Keywords |
Animals; Birds/*physiology; Cognition/*physiology; Color Perception/physiology; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Hippocampus/*physiology; Memory/*physiology; Species Specificity |
Abstract |
The three-way association among food-storing behavior, spatial memory, and hippocampal enlargement in some species of birds is widely cited as an example of a new 'cognitive ecology' or 'neuroecology.' Whether this relationship is as strong as it first appears and whether it might be evidence for an adaptive specialization of memory and hippocampus in food-storers have recently been the subject of some controversy [Bolhuis and Macphail, 2001; Macphail and Bolhuis, 2001]. These critiques are based on misconceptions about the nature of adaptive specializations in cognition, misconceptions about the uniformity of results to be expected from applying the comparative method to data from a wide range of species, and a narrow view of what kinds of cognitive adaptations are theoretically interesting. New analyses of why food-storers (black-capped chickadees, Poecile Atricapilla) respond preferentially to spatial over color cues when both are relevant in a memory task show that this reflects a relative superiority of spatial memory as compared to memory for color rather than exceptional spatial attention or spatial discrimination ability. New studies of chickadees from more or less harsh winter climates also support the adaptive specialization hypothesis and suggest that within-species comparisons may be especially valuable for unraveling details of the relationships among ecology, memory, and brain in food-storing species. |
Address |
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont., M5S 3G3, Canada. shettle@psych.utoronto.ca |
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0006-8977 |
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Notes |
PMID:12937349 |
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no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
367 |
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Author |
Peake, T.M.; Terry, A.M.R.; McGregor, P.K.; Dabelsteen, T. |
Title |
Do great tits assess rivals by combining direct experience with information gathered by eavesdropping? |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2002 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
Volume |
269 |
Issue |
1503 |
Pages |
1925-1929 |
Keywords |
Aggression; *Animal Communication; Animals; Male; Songbirds/*physiology; Territoriality; *Vocalization, Animal |
Abstract |
Animals frequently use signals that travel further than the spacing between individuals. For every intended recipient of a given signal there are likely to be many other individuals that receive information. Eavesdropping on signalling interactions between other individuals provides a relatively cost-free method of assessing future opponents or mates. Male great tits (Parus major) extract relative information from such interactions between individuals unknown to them. Here, we show that male great tits can take information gathering a stage further and obtain more information about a previously unencountered intruder, by the hitherto unknown capability of combining information gathered by eavesdropping with that derived from their own direct interaction with an individual. Prior experience with an intruder (A) was achieved by subjecting a focal male to different levels of intrusion simulated using interactive playback. This intruder (A) then took part in a simulated interaction with an unknown male (B) outside the territorial boundary of the focal males. In response to subsequent intrusion by the second male (B), focal males showed low song output in response to males that had lost to a male that the subject was able to beat. Males of known high quality, or those about which information was ambiguous, elicited a high level of song output by focal males. We discuss the implications of this finding for the evolution of communication and social behaviour. |
Address |
Department of Animal Behaviour, Zoological Institute, Copenhagen University, Tagensvej 16, DK 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. tmpeake@zi.ku.uk |
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0962-8452 |
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Notes |
PMID:12350255 |
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no |
Call Number |
refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
501 |
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Author |
Mettke-Hofmann, C.; Gwinner, E. |
Title |
Long-term memory for a life on the move |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |
Volume |
100 |
Issue |
10 |
Pages |
5863-5866 |
Keywords |
Animals; Germany; Israel; Memory/*physiology; Models, Biological; Periodicity; Songbirds/*physiology |
Abstract |
Evidence is accumulating that cognitive abilities are shaped by the specific ecological conditions to which animals are exposed. Long-distance migratory birds may provide a striking example of this. Field observations have shown that, at least in some species, a substantial proportion of individuals return to the same breeding, wintering, and stopover sites in successive years. This observation suggests that migrants have evolved special cognitive abilities that enable them to accomplish these feats. Here we show that memory of a particular feeding site persisted for at least 12 months in a long-distance migrant, whereas a closely related nonmigrant could remember such a site for only 2 weeks. Thus, it seems that the migratory lifestyle has influenced the learning and memorizing capacities of migratory birds. These results build a bridge between field observations suggesting special memorization feats of migratory birds and previous neuroanatomical results from the same two species indicating an increase in relative hippocampal size from the first to the second year of life in the migrant but not in the nonmigrant. |
Address |
Max Planck Research Centre for Ornithology, Department of Biological Rhythms and Behaviour, Von-der-Tann-Strasse 7, 82346 Andechs, Germany. mettke-hofmann@erl.ornithol.mpg.de |
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0027-8424 |
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PMID:12719527 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
511 |
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Author |
Brilot, B.O.; Johnstone, R.A. |
Title |
The limits to cost-free signalling of need between relatives |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
Volume |
270 |
Issue |
1519 |
Pages |
1055-1060 |
Keywords |
*Animal Communication; Animals; Birds/physiology; Models, Biological; *Social Behavior |
Abstract |
Theoretical models have demonstrated the possibility of stable cost-free signalling of need between relatives. The stability of these cost-free equilibria depends on the indirect fitness cost of cheating and deceiving a donor into giving away resources. We show that this stability is highly sensitive to the distribution of need among signallers and receivers. In particular, cost-free signalling is likely to prove stable only if there is very large variation in need (such that the least-needy individuals stand to gain much less than the most-needy individuals from additional resources). We discuss whether these conditions are likely to be found in altricial avian breeding systems--the most intensively studied instance of signalling of need between relatives. We suggest that cost-free signalling is more likely to prove stable and will provide parents with more information during the earlier phases of chick growth, when parents can more easily meet the demands of a brood (and chicks are more likely to reach satiation). Later, informative yet cost-free signalling is unlikely to persist. |
Address |
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. bob21@cam.ac.uk |
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0962-8452 |
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PMID:12803895 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
558 |
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Author |
Drent, P.J.; van Oers, K.; van Noordwijk, A.J. |
Title |
Realized heritability of personalities in the great tit (Parus major) |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2003 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
Volume |
270 |
Issue |
1510 |
Pages |
45-51 |
Keywords |
Aggression; Animals; Animals, Domestic; Animals, Wild; *Behavior, Animal; Breeding; Exploratory Behavior; Female; *Heredity; Male; Selection (Genetics); Songbirds/*genetics/*physiology; Variation (Genetics) |
Abstract |
Behaviour under conditions of mild stress shows consistent patterns in all vertebrates: exploratory behaviour, boldness, aggressiveness covary in the same way. The existence of highly consistent individual variation in these behavioural strategies, also referred to as personalities or coping styles, allows us to measure the behaviour under standardized conditions on birds bred in captivity, link the standardized measurements to the behaviour under natural conditions and measure natural selection in the field. We have bred the great tit (Parus major), a classical model species for the study of behaviour under natural conditions, in captivity. Here, we report a realized heritability of 54 +/- 5% for early exploratory behaviour, based on four generations of bi-directional artificial selection. In addition to this, we measured hand-reared juveniles and their wild-caught parents in the laboratory. The heritability found in the mid-offspring-mid-parent regression was significantly different from zero. We have thus established the presence of considerable amounts of genetic variation for personality types in a wild bird. |
Address |
Netherlands Institute of Ecology, PO Box 40, 6666 ZG Heteren, The Netherlands. drent@cto.nioo.knaw.nl |
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0962-8452 |
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PMID:12590770 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
591 |
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Author |
Peake, T.M.; Terry, A.M.; McGregor, P.K.; Dabelsteen, T. |
Title |
Male great tits eavesdrop on simulated male-to-male vocal interactions |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Proceedings. Biological sciences / The Royal Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Biol Sci |
Volume |
268 |
Issue |
1472 |
Pages |
1183-1187 |
Keywords |
Animals; Male; Songbirds/*physiology; *Vocalization, Animal |
Abstract |
Animal communication generally occurs in the environment of a network of several potential signallers and receivers. Within a network environment, it is possible to gain relative information about conspecifics by eavesdropping on signalling interactions. We presented male great tits with the opportunity to gain such information by simulating singing interactions using two loudspeakers. Interactions were presented so that relevant information was not available in the absolute singing behaviour of either individual, only in the relative timing of their songs in the interaction as a whole. We then assayed the information extracted by focal males by subsequently introducing one of the 'interactants' (i.e. loudspeakers) into the territory of the focal male. Focal males responded with a reduced song output to males that had just 'lost' an interaction. Focal males did not respond significantly differently to 'winners' as compared with intruders recently involved in an interaction that contained no consistent information. Focal males also responded by switching song types more often when encountering males that had recently been involved in a low-intensity interaction. These results provide the clearest evidence yet that male songbirds extract information from signal interactions between conspecifics in the field. |
Address |
Department of Animal Behaviour, Zoological Institute, Tagensvej 16, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark. tmpeake@zi.ku.dk |
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0962-8452 |
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PMID:11375107 |
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no |
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refbase @ user @ |
Serial |
712 |
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Author |
Emery, N.J.; Dally, J.M.; Clayton, N.S. |
Title |
Western scrub-jays ( Aphelocoma californica) use cognitive strategies to protect their caches from thieving conspecifics |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2004 |
Publication |
Animal Cognition |
Abbreviated Journal |
Anim. Cogn. |
Volume |
7 |
Issue |
1 |
Pages |
37-43 |
Keywords |
Animals; Birds/*physiology; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Female; *Food; Male; *Memory |
Abstract |
Food caching birds hide food and recover the caches when supplies are less abundant. There is, however, a risk to this strategy because the caches are susceptible to pilfering by others. Corvids use a number of different strategies to reduce possible cache theft. Scrub-jays with previous experience of pilfering other's caches cached worms in two visuospatially distinct caching trays either in private or in the presence of a conspecific. When these storers had cached in private, they subsequently observed both trays out of reach of a conspecific. When these storers had cached in the presence of a conspecific, they subsequently watched the observer pilfering from one of the trays while the other tray was placed in full view, but out of reach. The storers were then allowed to recover the remaining caches 3 h later. Jays cached more worms when they were observed during caching. At the time of recovery, they re-cached more than if they had cached in private, selectively re-caching outside of the trays in sites unbeknown to potential thieves. In addition, after a single pilfering trial, the jays switched their recovery strategy from predominantly checking their caches (i.e. returning to a cache site to see whether the food remained there) to predominantly eating them. Re-caching remained constant across the three trials. These results suggest that scrub-jays use flexible, cognitive caching and recovery strategies to aid in reducing potential future pilfering of caches by conspecifics. |
Address |
Sub-department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, High Street, CB3 8AA Madingley, Cambs, UK. nje23@cam.ac.uk |
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1435-9448 |
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PMID:12827547 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2566 |
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