Social information used to elicit cache protection differs between pinyon jays and Clark’s nutcrackers

Vernouillet, Alizée; Clary, Dawson; Kelly, Debbie M.

doi:10.1007/s00265-023-03307-9

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 60 publications

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“…This subtype of behavioural deception, known as tactical deception, is a cognitive-behavioural manoeuvre by which the agent can flexibly transmit misinformation to another and change the other's behaviour to its own advantage [7]. Tactical deception, requiring higher cognitive prerequisites, is rare and has been reported primarily in primates [8][9][10] and corvids [11][12][13][14]. Within tactical deception, the highest level is intentional tactical deception [15], in which a voluntary tactic is employed to obtain an advantage over another animal in a way that is not only deceptive but also intentionally deceptive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

d'Isa,

Parsons,

Chrzanowski

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Intentional tactical deception, the employment of a tactic to intentionally deceive another animal, is a complex behaviour based on higher-order cognition, that has rarely been documented outside of primates and corvids. New laboratory-to-field assays, however, provide the opportunity to investigate such behaviour among free-living mice. In the present study, we placed laboratory-style test chambers with a single entrance near a forest outside Warsaw, where we observed the social interactions of two territorial murids, black-striped and yellow-necked mice, under food competition for seven months. Notably, among the social interactions, we video-recorded 21 instances of deceptive pursuer evasion. In the most obvious cases, an individual inside the chamber, to avoid an incoming mouse, hid by the chamber opening (the only means to enter or exit), paused until the pursuer entered and passed by, and then exploited the distraction of the back-turned pursuer by fleeing through the opening in a direction opposite to the one the pursuer came from. This deceptive dodging is the first evidence of a behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception among mice. As such, this deceptive behaviour may be of interest not only for rodent psychology but also, more generally, for the fields of non-human intentionality and theory of mind.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

d'Isa,

Parsons,

Chrzanowski

et al. 2024

R. Soc. Open Sci.

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Social influences on delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays

Miller

Davies

Schiestl

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Self-control underlies goal-directed behaviour in humans and other animals. Delayed gratification - a measure of self-control - requires the ability to tolerate a delay and/or invest more effort to obtain a reward of higher value over one of lower value, such as food or mates. Social context, in particular, the presence of competitors, may influence delayed gratification. We adapted the 'rotating-tray' paradigm, where subjects need to forgo an immediate, lower-quality (i.e. less preferred) reward for a delayed, higher-quality (i.e. more preferred) one, to test social influences on delayed gratification in two corvid species: New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays. We compared choices for immediate vs. delayed rewards while alone, in the presence of a competitive conspecific and in the presence of a non-competitive conspecific. We found that species differed: jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward than the crows. We also found that jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward when a competitor or non-competitor was present than when alone, or when a competitor was present compared to a non-competitor, while the crows selected the delayed, highly preferred reward irrespective of social presence. We discuss our findings in relation to species differences in socio-ecological factors (adult sociality and food caching) and wider implications of social influences on self-control.

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Social influences on delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays

Miller,

Davies,

Schiestl

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

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Self-control underlies goal-directed behaviour in humans and other animals. Delayed gratification ‐ a measure of self-control ‐ requires the ability to tolerate delays and/or invest more effort to obtain a reward of higher value over one of lower value, such as food or mates. Social context, in particular, the presence of competitors, may influence delayed gratification. We adapted the ‘rotating-tray’ paradigm, where subjects need to forgo an immediate, lower-quality (i.e. less preferred) reward for a delayed, higher-quality (i.e. more preferred) one, to test social influences on delayed gratification in two corvid species: New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays. We compared choices for immediate vs. delayed rewards while alone, in the presence of a competitive conspecific and in the presence of a non-competitive conspecific. We predicted that, given the increased risk of losing a reward with a competitor present, both species would similarly, flexibly alter their choices in the presence of a conspecific compared to when alone. We found that species differed: jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward than the crows. We also found that jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward when a competitor or non-competitor was present than when alone, or when a competitor was present compared to a non-competitor, while the crows selected the delayed, highly preferred reward irrespective of social presence. We discuss our findings in relation to species differences in socio-ecological factors related to adult sociality and food-caching (storing). New Caledonian crows are more socially tolerant and moderate cachers, while Eurasian jays are highly territorial and intense cachers that may have evolved under the social context of cache pilfering and cache protection strategies. Therefore, flexibility (or inflexibility) in delay of gratification under different social contexts may relate to the species’ social tolerance and related risk of competition.

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Social information used to elicit cache protection differs between pinyon jays and Clark’s nutcrackers

Cited by 4 publications

References 60 publications

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

Catch me if you can: free-living mice show a highly flexible dodging behaviour suggestive of intentional tactical deception

Social influences on delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays

Social influences on delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays

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