10 - animal cognition II Flashcards
what are core cognitive functions?
working memory
inhibitory control
cognitive flexibility
what are higher order cognitive functions?
object permanence
self recognition
mental time travel
theory of mind
tool use/causal reasoning
what is cognitive flexibility?
ability to adapt thinking and behaviour in response to changing circumstances or tasks
how is cognitive flexibility studies in crows?
delayed match-to-sample task is conducted
during delay crow is given a visual or auditory cue, telling crow to either match sample to stimulus or choose a different stimulus
high firing rate for ‘non-match’ trials, low firing rate for ‘match’ rules
shows response to abstract rules in NCL, supports cognitive flexibility in birds (analogous to PFC)
how is cognitive flexibility measured in bees?
bees fly though tunnel presented with 2 samples, sometimes sample 1 is correct, sometimes sample 2 is correct
bees perform at about chance levels, showing they can generalise from specific visual stimulus to abstract tasks (cognitive flexibility)
how is the learning of abstract concept in bees studied?
bee has to navigate a maze to a feeder, match-to-sample task but bee generalises modality of sample
initially presented with either lemon or mango odour, then has to match odour at the next junction of maze
odours are then replaced with colours, bees must perform the rule they learned with colours
bees perform above chance levels, indicates abstract concept of sameness
how is object permanence in crows studied?
crow presented with meal worm that has been covered with a cloth, it can move the cloth and eat the mealworm
demonstrated object permanence
how is object permanence in Macaques studied?
single unit recordings in inferotemporal cortex
observe object, wall moves across and obscures object
some neurons respond higher to expected, others to surprise, indicating a selective difference
suggests macaques have object permanence
how is self recognition observed in dolphins?
when presented with a mirror they engage in a physical capacity to figure out what their body can do
demonstrate mirror self recognition
(also seen in chimpanzees and magpies)
how is mental time travel measured in Scrub Jays?
presented scrub jays with meal worms and an ice cube tray with sand, only half exposed, bird buries them
scrub jay then presented with peanuts and other side of tray exposed, bird buries them
meal worms go bad first, scrub jay comes back and looks for meal worms
demonstrating it knows what food it stored there and how long it has to be there before it goes bag (episodic like memory)
how is ToM observed in chimpanzees?
false belief task - present an engaging story for chimps
eye-tracking, examine where the chimps think the injured party will look
chimps perform well, demonstrates ToM
evidence of ToM in animals?
- chimps show patience with individuals willing over those unwilling to share
- discriminate between accidental and intentional actions
- follow/track gaze of others
- gestural communication when facing another
evidence of tool use in animals
used in foraging behaviour - extend, reach, dig etc
used for protection - dolphins use sponges for protection during foraging
manufacture of tools for specific task - crows use hooks made from sticks for fishing long-horn beetles
why does the definition of tool use matter?
tool use is relatively very rare
lots of trained tool use within labs, less so in the wild
tools rarely manufactured specifically for purpose
tools only serve one purpose
not defining characteristics of species
how does tool use in humans and Rhesus monkeys compare?
fMRI compared humans with Rhesus monkeys
macaques don’t understand how an object might affect change on another object
similar activation for hand object interactions
anterior supra marginal gyrus (aSMG) only present in humans (specialised tool use region)
