Sex differences and errors in the use of terrain slope for navigation

Nardi, Daniele; Holmes, Corinne A.; Newcombe, Nora S.; Weisberg, Steven M.

doi:10.1007/s10339-015-0669-x

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…They will also encode views of the panorama surrounding the flower (Pritchard et al 2015(Pritchard et al , 2016 and perhaps local, natural landmarks (e.g., small bushes, ground squirrel holes; Nardi et al 2015, Hurly et al 2010). Now we can add geometric cues provided by the relationship among the four flowers to this list.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild hummingbirds can use the geometry of a flower array

Hornsby

Healy

Hurly

2017

Behavioural Processes

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Highlights:1) We trained birds to find a rewarded flower in a four-flower array 2) After rotation and translocation of the array, hummingbirds used geometric cues to choose a flower 3) Geometry is more than a robust laboratory artefact, but more research is required AbstractAnimals use cues from their environment to orient in space and to navigate their surroundings.Geometry is a cue whose informational content may originate from the metric properties of a given environment, and its use has been demonstrated in the laboratory in nearly every species of animal tested. However, it is not clear whether geometric information, used by animals typically tested in small, rectangular boxes, is directly relevant to animals in their natural environment.Here we present the first data that confirm the use of geometric cues by a free-living animal in the wild. We trained rufous hummingbirds to visit a rectangular array of four artificial flowers, one of which was rewarded. In some trials a conspicuous landmark cued the reward. Following array translocation and rotation, we presented hummingbirds with three tests. When trained and tested with the landmark, or when trained and tested without it, hummingbirds failed to show geometric learning. However, when trained with a landmark but tested without it, hummingbirds produced the classic geometric response, showing that they had learned the geometric relationships (distance and direction) of several non-reward visual elements of the environment.While it remains that the use of geometry to relocate a reward may be an experimental artefact, it is one cue that is not confined to the laboratory.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wild hummingbirds can use the geometry of a flower array

Hornsby

Healy

Hurly

2017

Behavioural Processes

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“…As such, slope might have been less salient in the toad study. This point is made more relevant by findings in humans indicating a diminished salience of slope when set to 5° (Nardi et al, 2013(Nardi et al, , 2015 compared with the 20°slope used in the pigeon studies. Therefore, before a convincing difference in the relative use of slope between pigeons and toads, and more generally surface versus 3D movers, can be accepted, toads should be tested on the steeper slope used in the pigeon studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, studies in rats and a fish (the sighted banded tetra Astyanax fasciatus) demonstrated that they can discriminate information from the horizontal and vertical axes of space and, in the case of the banded tetra fish, they rely more on vertical-component information under conflict (Holbrook & Burt de Perera, 2009;Jovalekic et al, 2011). Nardi et al (2013Nardi et al ( , 2015 have argued that slope is potentially important as a spatial cue because of its gradient properties, providing information along an "uphill-downhill" axis. When slope is coupled with "sense" information (i.e., left or right) specific locations in an experimental space can be discriminated.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…However, boundary geometry and visual features are not the only potential sources of information a vertebrate can rely on to recognize a goal location. For example, terrain slope has been shown to be used by homing pigeons, rats, and humans to locate a goal (Cheng, Huttenlocher, & Newcombe, 2013; Grobéty & Schenk, 1992b; Holmes, Nardi, Newcombe, & Weisberg, 2015; Nardi & Bingman, 2009a; Nardi, Funk, Newcombe, & Shipley, 2009; Nardi, Nitsch, & Bingman, 2010; Nardi, Newcombe, & Shipley, 2011, 2013; Nardi, Holmes, Newcombe, & Weisberg, 2015; Weisberg, Nardi, Newcombe, & Shipley, 2014). More generally, locating a goal in the vertical plane has been observed in fish and rats in a context different from slope (fish: Holbrook & Burt de Perera, 2009; rats: Grobéty & Schenk, 1992a; Jeffery, Jovalekic, Verriotis, & Hayman, 2013; Jeffery, Wilson, Casali, & Hayman, 2015).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Slope-based and geometric encoding of a goal location by the terrestrial toad (Rhinella arenarum).

Sotelo¹,

Bingman²,

Muzio³

2017

Journal of Comparative Psychology

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The current study was designed to test for the ability of terrestrial toads, , to use slope as source of spatial information to locate a goal, and investigate the relative importance of slope and geometric information for goal localization. Toads were trained to locate a single, water-reward goal location in a corner of a rectangular arena placed on an incline. Once the toads learned the task, 3 types of probe trials were carried out to determine the relative use of slope and geometric information for goal localization. The probe trials revealed that the toads were able to independently use slope, and as previously reported, geometry to locate the goal. However, the boundary geometry of the experimental arena was found to be preferentially used by the toads when geometric and slope information were set in conflict. (PsycINFO Database Record

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“…We intended to measure spatial ability by including a computerized mental rotation task with Shepard and Metzler (1971) shapes ( Peters & Battista, 2008 ). There is a great deal of evidence for sex differences in spatial tasks (e.g., D. Voyer, S. Voyer, & Bryden, 1995 ) including those related to slope ( Nardi, Holmes, Newcombe, & Weisberg, 2015 ; Nardi, Meloni, Orlandi, & Olivetti-Belardinelli, 2014 ). However, data from this reaction time task, which involved judging whether each of two imaged shapes was the same or different from another, were reliably correlated both with age and with conscientiousness.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Individual Differences and Aging Effects in the Estimation of Geographical Slant Reflect Cognitive or Perceptual Effects?

Dean

Thomson

et al. 2016

i-Perception

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Several individual differences including age have been suggested to affect the perception of slant. A cross-sectional study of outdoor hill estimation (N = 106) was analyzed using individual difference measures of age, experiential knowledge, fitness, personality traits, and sex. Of particular note, it was found that for participants who reported any experiential knowledge about slant, estimates decreased (i.e., became more accurate) as conscientiousness increased, suggesting that more conscientious individuals were more deliberate about taking their experiential knowledge (rather than perception) into account. Effects of fitness were limited to those without experiential knowledge, suggesting that they, too, may be cognitive rather than perceptual. The observed effects of age, which tended to produce lower, more accurate estimates of hill slant, provide more evidence that older adults do not see hills as steeper. The main effect of age was to lower slant estimates; such effects may be due to implicit experiential knowledge acquired over a lifetime. The results indicate the impact of cognitive, rather than perceptual factors on individual differences in slant estimation.

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Sex differences and errors in the use of terrain slope for navigation

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

Wild hummingbirds can use the geometry of a flower array

Wild hummingbirds can use the geometry of a flower array

Slope-based and geometric encoding of a goal location by the terrestrial toad (Rhinella arenarum).

Do Individual Differences and Aging Effects in the Estimation of Geographical Slant Reflect Cognitive or Perceptual Effects?

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