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Author Gibbs, S.E.B.; Lea, S.E.G.; Jacobs, L.F.
Title Flexible use of spatial cues in the southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) Type Journal Article
Year 2007 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 10 Issue 2 Pages 203-209
Keywords Animals; Male; Orientation; *Sciuridae; *Space Perception; *Spatial Behavior
Abstract Insects, birds, and mammals have been shown capable of encoding spatial information in memory using multiple strategies or frames of reference simultaneously. These strategies include orientation to a goal-specific cue or beacon, to the position of the goal in an array of local landmarks, or to its position in the array of distant landmarks, also known as the global frame of reference. From previous experiments, it appears that birds and mammals that scatter hoard rely primarily on a global frame of reference, but this generalization depends on evidence from only a few species. Here we examined spatial memory in a previously unstudied scatter hoarder, the southern flying squirrel. We dissociated the relative weighting of three potential spatial strategies (beacon, global, or relative array strategy) with three probe tests: transposition of beacon and the rotation or the expansion of the array. The squirrels' choices were consistent with a spatial averaging strategy, where they chose the location dictated by at least two of the three strategies, rather than using a single preferred frame of reference. This adaptive and flexible heuristic has not been previously described in animal orientation studies, yet it may be a common solution to the universal problem of encoding and recalling spatial locations in an ephemeral physical landscape.
Address Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1650, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17265151 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (up) 2422
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Author MacLean, E.; Matthews, L.; Hare, B.; Nunn, C.; Anderson, R.; Aureli, F.; Brannon, E.; Call, J.; Drea, C.; Emery, N.; Haun, D.; Herrmann, E.; Jacobs, L.; Platt, M.; Rosati, A.; Sandel, A.; Schroepfer, K.; Seed, A.; Tan, J.; van Schaik, C.; Wobber, V.
Title How does cognition evolve? Phylogenetic comparative psychology Type Journal Article
Year 2012 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 15 Issue 2 Pages 223-238
Keywords Biomedizin & Life Sciences
Abstract Now more than ever animal studies have the potential to test hypotheses regarding how cognition evolves. Comparative psychologists have developed new techniques to probe the cognitive mechanisms underlying animal behavior, and they have become increasingly skillful at adapting methodologies to test multiple species. Meanwhile, evolutionary biologists have generated quantitative approaches to investigate the phylogenetic distribution and function of phenotypic traits, including cognition. In particular, phylogenetic methods can quantitatively (1) test whether specific cognitive abilities are correlated with life history (e.g., lifespan), morphology (e.g., brain size), or socio-ecological variables (e.g., social system), (2) measure how strongly phylogenetic relatedness predicts the distribution of cognitive skills across species, and (3) estimate the ancestral state of a given cognitive trait using measures of cognitive performance from extant species. Phylogenetic methods can also be used to guide the selection of species comparisons that offer the strongest tests of a priori predictions of cognitive evolutionary hypotheses (i.e., phylogenetic targeting). Here, we explain how an integration of comparative psychology and evolutionary biology will answer a host of questions regarding the phylogenetic distribution and history of cognitive traits, as well as the evolutionary processes that drove their evolution.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial (up) 5604
Permanent link to this record