An Experimental Test of a Causal Link between Problem-Solving Performance and Reproductive Success in Wild Great Tits

Abstract

Recent studies have uncovered relationships between measures of various cognitive performances and proxies of fitness such as reproductive success in non-human animals. However, to better understand the evolution of cognition in the wild, we still have to determine the causality of these relationships and the underlying mechanisms. The cognitive ability of an individual may directly influence its ability to raise many and/or high quality young through for example its provisioning ability. Conversely, large and/or high quality broods may lead to high parental motivation to solve problems related to their care. To answer this question, we manipulated reproductive success through brood size and measured subsequent problem-solving performance in wild great tit parents. Our results show that brood size manipulation did not affect the probability to solve the task. Moreover, solver pairs fledged more young than non-solver pairs independently of brood size treatment in one of the two experimental years and they showed higher nestling provisioning rate in both years. Overall, it shows that problem-solving performance was not driven by motivation and suggest that problem-solvers may achieve higher fledging success through higher provisioning rates. Our study constitutes a first key step toward a mechanistic understanding of the consequences of innovation ability for individual fitness in the wild.

The Role of Cognition in Social Information Use for Breeding Site Selection: Experimental Evidence in a Wild Passerine Population

“…This may rely on a better processing and use of information sources about the environment (e.g., prioritize and memorize information but also learn from either personal or social experience), allowing individuals to optimally choose between alternatives (Mery, 2013). This is in line with previous results showing that higher problem-solving ability was associated with increased nestling provisioning rate (Cauchard et al, 2017), which could involve different habitat use strategies (e.g., range of territory use: Cole et al, 2012). Yet, empirical evidence that cognitive abilities influence the use of complex information for decision making in the wild is still extremely scarce.…”

“…variance in learning performance, we found no relation between learning score and the probability to copy tit preference in males, whether yearling or older. These results suggest that cognitive abilities (in this study learning ability) can at least partly shape information use for decision-making, here in females, providing a new mechanistic explanation for the positive link between cognitive abilities and fitness components (Cauchard et al, 2017; see also Ducatez et al, 2020) that was previously observed in the wild (e.g., Keagy et al, 2011;Cauchard et al, 2013;Smith et al, 2015).…”

“…To explain the links between cognitive abilities and fitness traits recently reported in wild populations (e.g., reproductive success: Cauchard et al, 2013;Smith et al, 2015;Ashton et al, 2018;survival: Sonnenberg et al, 2019;Wild et al, 2019), it has been hypothesized that individuals with higher cognitive abilities may achieve higher fitness because of a higher ability to optimally exploit their habitat (Cole et al, 2012;Cauchard et al, 2017). This may rely on a better processing and use of information sources about the environment (e.g., prioritize and memorize information but also learn from either personal or social experience), allowing individuals to optimally choose between alternatives (Mery, 2013).…”

Fitness Consequences of Innovation in Spotted Hyenas

“…The relationship between innovative problem-solving and reproductive success, on the other hand, has been linked in some bird species to the ability to forage more efficiently (Cauchard et al, 2017;Preiszner et al, 2017;Wetzel, 2017) but see Cole et al (2012a). Access to food is a strong determinant of reproductive success among female hyenas; social rank is the strongest determinant of reproductive success because high ranking individuals enjoy the best access to high quality food resources (Holekamp et al, 1996).…”

General Cognitive Ability Predicts Survival-Readiness in Genetically Heterogeneous Laboratory Mice

“…Similarly, Cole et al administered problem solving tests to great tits (Parus major), and successful problem solvers produced larger broods of chicks and were more efficient foragers for food (Cole et al, 2012; also see Ashton et al, 2018). Cauchard et al (2017) demonstrated that the link between cognitive abilities and brood size was causal in nature, i.e., while birds of higher cognitive abilities tended to maintain larger broods, direct manipulation of brood size did not in itself promote increases in cognitive ability. Other than reproductive behaviors, cognitive abilities sometimes predict other survival-related skills.…”