Numerical discrimination by frogs (Bombina orientalis)

Stancher, Gionata; Rugani, Rosa; Regolin, Lucia; Vallortígara, Giorgio

doi:10.1007/s10071-014-0791-7

Cited by 112 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…According to Weber’s law, the finer the ratio between two quantities, the harder it is for the animal to differentiate between them [23,25,26]. Whilst there are many studies in a range of taxa evidencing use of the approximate number system to perform quantity discrimination (e.g., [5,7,10,13,23,43,44,46]), use of the object-file system has also been described in a variety of species including humans [22], rhesus macaques [24], domestic chicks [47], horses [48], amphibians [16,18] and mosquitofish [49]. In this study the negative correlation found between the fineness of the ratio and the proportion of trials where the larger quantity was selected indicates that the rats’ ability to differentiate the two amounts decreased as the ratio became finer (e.g., from 3:8 to 5:6).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Quantity discrimination has been reported in a range of taxa including mammals (e.g., Dogs: [2], African elephants [3], Cats: [4], Capuchin monkeys: [5], Great apes: [6]), birds (e.g., Domestic Chicks [7] Clark’s Nutcrackers: [8], North Island robins: [9], African grey parrots: [10]), invertebrates (e.g., Japanese ants [11], Yellow mealworm beetles [12]), fish (e.g., Angelfish: [13], Mosquitofish: [14]; Redtail Splitfin [15]) and amphibians (e.g., Frogs: [16], Salamanders: [17,18]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quantity Discrimination in Domestic Rats, Rattus norvegicus

Cox¹,

Montrose²

2016

Animals

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Simple SummaryQuantity discrimination involves distinguishing which of two quantities is greater. This discrimination between larger and smaller quantities has only been demonstrated in rats post extensive training. We tested whether domestic rats could perform quantity discrimination without explicit training. We found that rats could distinguish the greater amount in comparisons of 1 vs. 2, 2 vs. 3, 3 vs. 5, 3 vs. 8, 4 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 8. Rats could not distinguish between 3 vs. 4, 4 vs. 5 and 5 vs. 6. We also found that as the ratio between quantities became finer the choice of the larger quantity decreased. We conclude that rats can perform quantity discrimination without extensive training and that their quantity discrimination ability is influenced by the ratio between quantities.AbstractQuantity discrimination is a basic form of numerical competence where an animal distinguishes which of two amounts is greater in size. Whilst quantity discrimination in rats has been investigated via training paradigms, rats’ natural quantity discrimination abilities without explicit training for a desired response have not been explored. This study investigated domestic rats’ ability to perform quantity discrimination. Domestic rats (n = 12) were examined for their ability to distinguish the larger amount under nine quantity comparisons. One-sample t-tests identified a significant preference for the larger quantity in comparisons of 1 vs. 2, 2 vs. 3, 3 vs. 5, 3 vs. 8, 4 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 8. No preference between quantities was found for comparisons of 3 vs. 4, 4 vs. 5 and 5 vs. 6. Overall, this study drew two key conclusions. Firstly, that domestic rats are capable of performing quantity discrimination without extensive training. Secondly, as subjects adhered to Weber’s law, it was concluded that the approximate number system underpins domestic rats’ ability to perform spontaneous quantity discrimination.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantity Discrimination in Domestic Rats, Rattus norvegicus

Cox¹,

Montrose²

2016

Animals

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“…Researchers in these fields have found that the ability to discriminate between different numbers of objects appears to be a foundational cognitive ability and have documented this ability in numerous species across the Animal Kingdom. For example, quantity discrimination has been demonstrated experimentally in several species of fish [5,11,[19][20][21], amphibians [8,22,23], birds [18,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35], mammals [9,[36][37][38][39][40][41], primates [42][43][44][45], human infants [46][47][48][49] and even some invertebrates [50][51][52]. The only study testing quantity discrimination in a reptile found that although ruin lizards (Podarcis sicula) do spontaneously select the larger quantity of food, they do not spontaneously select the option with a higher number of food items [53].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

Benson‐Amram

Gilfillan

McComb

2018

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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SummaryPlayback experiments have proven to be a useful tool to investigate the extent to which wild animals understand numerical concepts and the factors that play into their decisions to respond to different numbers of vocalizing conspecifics. In particular, playback experiments have broadened our understanding of the cognitive abilities of historically understudied species that are challenging to test in the traditional laboratory, such as members of the Order Carnivora. Additionally, playback experiments allow us to assess the importance of numerical information versus other ecologically important variables when animals are making adaptive decisions in their natural habitats. Here, webegin by reviewing what we know about quantity discrimination in carnivores from studies conducted in captivity. We then review a series of playback experiments conducted with wild social carnivores, including African lions, spotted hyenas, and wolves, which demonstrate that these animals can assess the number of conspecifics calling and respond based on numerical advantage.We discuss how the wild studies compliment those conducted in captivity and allow us to gain insights into why wild animals may not always respond based solely on differences in quantity. We then consider the key role that individual discrimination and cross-modal recognition play in the 2 ability of animals to assess the number of conspecifics vocalizing nearby. Finally, we explore new directions for future research in this area, highlighting in particular the need for further work on the cognitive basis of numerical assessment skills and experimental paradigms that can be effective in both captive and wild settings.

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“…Less clear is the evidence for quantity discrimination in cold-blooded vertebrates. Amphibians (Uller et al, 2003;Stancher et al, 2015) and fish (Agrillo et al, 2012;Potrich et al, 2015) showed quantity judgements that vary as a function of ratio in accordance with Weber's law. In reptiles, in contrast, ruin lizards (Podarcis siculus) proved able to spontaneously discriminate between the surface area of two food items of different size, but failed when food was presented in sets of discrete items differing in numerousness (Miletto Petrazzini et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Continuous and discrete quantity discrimination in tortoises

Gazzola

Vallortígara

Pellitteri‐Rosa

2018

Preprint

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The study provide a new insight on numerical cognition in an ancient group of reptiles (chelonians), thus disclosing the early evolutionary acquisition of numerical ability in this group. Moreover, it is the second study conducted on reptiles, which are largely unexplored for numerical competence. AbstractThe ability to estimate quantity, which is crucially important in several aspects of animal behaviour (e.g., foraging), has been extensively investigated in most taxa, with the exception of reptiles. The few studies available, in lizards, report lack of spontaneous discrimination of quantity, which may suggest that reptiles could represent an exception in numerical abilities among vertebrates. We investigated the spontaneous ability of Hermann's tortoises (Testudo hermanni) to select the larger quantity of food items.Tortoises showed able to choose the larger food item when exposed with two options differing in size (0.25, 0.50, 0.67 and 0.75 ratio) and when presented with two groups differing in numerousness (1 versus 4, 2 versus 4, 2 versus 3 and 3 versus 4 items). The tortoises succeeded in both size and numerousness discrimination, and their performance appeared to depend on the ratio of items to be discriminated (thus following Weber's Law).These findings in chelonians provide evidence of an ancient system for the extrapolation of numerical magnitudes from given sets of elements, shared among vertebrates.

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Numerical discrimination by frogs (Bombina orientalis)

Cited by 112 publications

References 52 publications

Quantity Discrimination in Domestic Rats, Rattus norvegicus

Quantity Discrimination in Domestic Rats, Rattus norvegicus

Numerical assessment in the wild: insights from social carnivores

Continuous and discrete quantity discrimination in tortoises

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