How practice makes perfect: the role of persistence, flexibility and learning in problem-solving efficiency

Abstract

To fully understand how problem solving ability provides adaptive advantages for animals, we should understand the mechanisms that support this ability. Recent studies have highlighted several behavioural traits including persistence, behavioural variety and behavioural/cognitive flexibility that contribute to problem solving success. However, any increment in these traits will increase time and energy costs in natural conditions, so they are not necessarily advantageous. To examine how behavioural traits vary during learning to solve a problem efficiently, we gave grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) a problem solving task that required squirrels to obtain out-of-reach but visible hazelnuts by making a lever drop in the laboratory. We recorded persistence, measured as attempt rate, flexibility, measured as the rate of switching between tactics, and behavioural selectivity, measured as the proportion of effective behaviours, in relation to problem solving efficiency on a trial-by-trial basis.Persistence and behavioural selectivity were found to be directly associated with problem solving efficiency. These two factors also mediated the effects of flexibility and increased experience. We also found two routes that led to more efficient problem solving across learning trials: increasing persistence or increasing behavioural selectivity. Flexibility was independent from learning. Flexibility could increase problem solving efficiency, but it also has a time cost; furthermore it seemed to involve a trade-off with behavioural selectivity, with high flexibility being associated with a higher frequency of some disadvantageous ineffective behaviours. These results suggest that flexibility is an independent cognitive process or behavioural trait that may not always bring advantages to animals.

Behavioral flexibility and problem solving in an invasive bird

“…Behavioral flexibility, Aesop's Fable, color discrimination, reversal learning, problem solving, Icteridae BACKGROUND Behavioral flexibility, defined here as the ability to change preferences when circumstances change based on learning from previous experience or using causal knowledge, is frequently implicated as a key factor involved in problem solving success and adapting behavior to changing environments (e.g., Lefebvre et al 1997, Griffin & Guez 2014, Buckner 2015, Chow et al 2016. Those individuals or species that are more behaviorally flexible are predicted to learn faster and better, and rely on more learning strategies to solve problems (Griffin & Guez 2014).…”

Behavioral flexibility: A review, a model, and some exploratory tests

“…The puzzle situation that inspired this model has been used in a series of experiments on problem-solving in squirrels (Chow, Lea, & Leaver 2016;Chow et al, 2017;Chow, Lurz, & Lea 2018;Chow et al, 2019). The basic design is fully described by Chow et al (2016), though later experiments involved some variations. It consists of a transparent, roughly cubical box supported on short legs above a solid pyramidal base.…”

“…a i represents the preparedness of response i: the higher a i , the easier it is to learn that response (for the given Fig. 1 (a) Simplified diagram (not to scale) of the apparatus used by Chow et al (2016). In practice there were ten levers, five of which were baited with nuts and five were unbaited.…”

“…Simulations of an idealized version of the Chow et al (2016) task Accordingly, we selected parameters that plausibly described the problem-solving task used by Chow et al (2016Chow et al ( , 2017Chow et al ( , 2018Chow et al ( , 2019 involving the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.…”

A Mixed-Methods Analysis of the Effects of a Fundamental Motor Skills Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…A successful trial was defined as any performance of the skill that demonstrated the focus SC; a successfult trial was defined as any skill attempt that met the focus SC for that week. Recent research (Chow, Lea, & Leaver, 2016) suggests that learning can be influenced by the number of trials completed, and success in those trials provides opportunities for greater benefit. Often, practice trials are a controlled variable in research to understand the differences between other influences (Corrêa, Walter, Torriani-Pasin, Barros, & Tani, 2014).…”