An Investigation into the Cognition Behind Spontaneous String Pulling in New Caledonian Crows

Taylor, Alexander; Medina, Felipe S.; Holzhaider, Jennifer C.; Hearne, Lindsay J.; Hunt, Gavin R.; Gray, Russell D.

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0009345

Cited by 110 publications

(146 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The findings here instead provide support for the feedback loop hypothesis, which can also account for the results found in previous studies on string pulling in birds [4][5][6][7][8]. The failure of New Caledonian crows to solve the string-pulling problem when feedback is interrupted [6] or removed (this study), and the failure of chimpanzees to solve a problem highly similar to vertical string pulling without perceptual feedback [18], strongly suggests that such feedback is a key component of this type of problem solving. Testing whether crows discriminate between connected and disconnected uncoiled strings after limited experience would provide further evidence in support of this conclusion.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

An end to insight? New Caledonian crows can spontaneously solve problems without planning their actions

2012

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Animals rarely solve problems spontaneously. Some bird species, however, can immediately find a solution to the string-pulling problem. They are able to rapidly gain access to food hung on the end of a long string by repeatedly pulling and then stepping on the string. It is currently unclear whether these spontaneous solutions are produced by insight or by a perceptual-motor feedback loop. Here, we presented New Caledonian crows and humans with a novel horizontal string-pulling task. While the humans succeeded, no individual crow showed a significant preference for the connected string, and all but one failed to gain the food even once. These results clearly show that string pulling in New Caledonian crows is generated not by insight, but by perceptual feedback. Animals can spontaneously solve problems without planning their actions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

An end to insight? New Caledonian crows can spontaneously solve problems without planning their actions

2012

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“…For example, New Caledonian crows given experience operating an apparatus by pecking or using a stick became more likely to operate a similar apparatus by dropping a stone onto it [53]. Related analyses have begun with string pulling [54] and metatool use [55,56]. The extent to which the solving of novel problems is entirely explained by this approach remains to be seen.…”

Section: The Evolution Of Comparative Cognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clever animals and killjoy explanations in comparative psychology

Shettleworth

2010

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

218

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From the process of organic evolution to the analysis of insect societies as self-organizing systems, biology is full of awe-inspiring examples of complexity arising from simplicity. Yet in the contemporary study of animal cognition, demonstrations that complex human-like behavior arises from simple mechanisms rather than from 'higher' processes, such as insight or theory of mind, are often seen as uninteresting and 'killjoy', almost a denial of mental continuity between other species and humans. At the same time, however, research elsewhere in psychology increasingly reveals an unexpected role in human behavior for simple, unconscious and sometimes irrational processes shared by other animals. Greater appreciation of such mechanisms in nonhuman species would contribute to a deeper, more truly comparative psychology.Complexity from simplicity in biology and behavior The extremes of higher-level traits may at first appear to have a life of their own, one too complex or fragile to be reduced to their basic elements and processes by deductive reasoning and experiment. But such separatist holism is in our opinion a delusion, the result of still insufficient knowledge about the working parts and processes.Thus Holldobler and Wilson ([1] p. 60) on how the amazing construction of a perfectly air-conditioned termite nest is explained by the local responses of myriads of individuals. Incredible as it seems, there is no termite architect. Similarly, honeybee societies, schools of fish, and other group phenomena in animal behavior are increasingly well understood as self-organizing systems [2]. It is hard not to be in awe of how such complexities arise out of simplicity. The concluding paragraphs of On the Origin of Species [3] are eloquent expression of such an attitude toward organic evolution: ''There is grandeur in this view of life'' as the inevitable product of variation, selection and inheritance. But when it comes to cleverlooking animal behaviors such as communicating, using tools, solving novel problems or preparing for the future, a contradictory attitude often prevails: explaining behaviors that seem to require human-like thought in terms of simple processes such as associative learning and species-typical predispositions is 'killjoy' [4], tantamount to denial of mental continuity between humans and other animals.Justification for valuing anthropomorphic explanations of animal behavior can be traced to Darwin. Nowadays support for them is sometimes based on limited understanding of the alternatives offered by contemporary experimental psychology and ethology and on outdated folk psychology. Contemporary human social and cognitive psychology is revealing that folk psychology is often misleading, and the very sorts of simple, unconscious mechanisms that explain much animal behavior are more important in human behavior than intuition suggests. Consistent with this trend, comparative psychologists are beginning to appreciate that sweeping anthropomorphic questions such as 'Do animals have insight?' (Box 1) or 'Do a...

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“…New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides, NC crows hereafter) stand out in the corvid family because of their exceptional ability to use and manufacture tools in both the wild (Hunt, 1996(Hunt, , 2000aHunt & Gray, 2003, 2004a, 2004b, 2007 and the laboratory , 2004Weir, Chappell, & Kacelnik, 2002;, and for their considerable problem-solving skills (Taylor et al, 2007;Taylor et al, 2010;Taylor, Roberts, et al, 2009;Wimpenny, Weir, Clayton, Rutz, & Kacelnik, 2009). NC crows also appear to have relatively large brains, even among highly encephalized corvids (Cnotka, Güntürkün, Rehkämper, Gray, & Hunt, 2008;Mehlhorn et al, 2010).…”

Section: Jennifer C Hmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social learning in New Caledonian crows

Holzhaider

Hunt

Gray

2010

Learning & Behavior

107

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New Caledonian (NC) crows are the most sophisticated tool manufacturers other than humans. The diversification and geographical distribution of their three Pandanus tool designs that differ in complexity, as well as the lack of ecological correlates, suggest that cumulative technological change has taken place. To investigate the p possibility that high-fidelity social transmission mediated this putative ratchet-like process, we studied the ontogeny of Pandanus tool manufacture and social organization in free-living NC crows. We found that juvenile crows took more than 1 year to reach adult proficiency in their Pandanus tool skills. Although trial-and-error learning is clearly important, juveniles have ample opportunity to learn about Pandanus tool manufacture by both observing their parents and interacting with artifactual material. The crows' social system seems likely to promote the faithful social transmission of local tool designs by both favoring the vertical transmission of tool information and minimizing horizontal transmission. We suggest that NC crows develop their Pandanus tool skills in a highly scaffolded learning environment that facilitates the cumulative technological evolution of tool designs.

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An Investigation into the Cognition Behind Spontaneous String Pulling in New Caledonian Crows

Cited by 110 publications

References 26 publications

An end to insight? New Caledonian crows can spontaneously solve problems without planning their actions

An end to insight? New Caledonian crows can spontaneously solve problems without planning their actions

Clever animals and killjoy explanations in comparative psychology

Social learning in New Caledonian crows

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