Comparative Cognition Flashcards
What is comparative cognition?
Comparative cognition is the aim of understanding cognition across the animal kingdom, looking at how it works, what is good nature and how it evolved (Shettleworth, 2010).
Important to investigate both humans and other species. Comparisons can help us be informed of the origins of our own cognition.
Best way to do this is to look at functional similarities. When investigating a non-verbal species, need to accept a part of the animals behaviour as the same as a persons verbal account. Means you never know if it is correct or not.
Wittlinger, Wehner and Wolf (2006) Ants
- Saharan desert ants are able to return home in a direct straight line. Suggested that they measure distance between stops and know distance home.
- Before the study, assumptions exist. Energy hypothesis - energy required used to calculate travel distance. However, no matter how much they carry, always accurate in travelling home. Can even do this in the dark.
- Manipulated ant’s legs. Shortened, normal, stilts.
- Stump and stilt = overshot
- Normal = Found way home.
- Suggested that they have some form of pedometer, counting their steps to guide them home. Have specialised navigation skills.
Describe the importance of the cortex in investigating brain size
Humans have a large pre-frontal cortex compared to other species.
Dunbar (2009) - investigated relationship between size of social group and neocortex ratio. Found that social group size is the best predictor of neocortex size. In humans, it is suggested that pre-frontal cortex necessary for formation of complex social groups. Evidence against the foraging hypothesis. Sociality is the main selection pressure on primate brain size.
Barton (2006) - Primates have large neocortex, but no known cognitive processes mediated mainly by it. Instead, they are mediated by networks that link neocortex with other structures. Suggesting that it process info from all senses. Primate have complex visual systems, reason for large brains in humans as visual specilisaion important and a central part of human evolution.
Some studies also suggest visual specialisation linked to sociality, links with Dunbar.
Explain the role of the Hippocampus on brain size within comparative cognition
Foraging hypothesis - Proposed that there are correlations between brain size and foraging behaviour. This was an early idea which lead to the idea that large brains reflect selection on cognitive abilities.
Jerison (1973) - Principle of proper mass, the more important a function is, the more brain area is devoted to it.
E.g. of elephants - Hippocampus where mental maps stored. Elephants have large hippocampus, behaviour of walking long distances to watering holes.
Garamszegi and Eens (2004) - birds who store a lot of food usually have larger brains than expected for brain size, perhaps reflecting sensory and motor specialisations in storing and retrieving food behaviour. Idea of mental maps.
Healy and Clayton (1994) - brains of food storing birds. Brain develops quickly within the first few weeks of life. Marsh tits who are food stores, show a continual increase in the hippocampus which is also influenced by experience in using spatial memory.
What are the limitations in looking at intelligence within comparative cognition?
Shettleworth (2010) - Claims that it is not a useful term for describing animal behaviour. It describes a global ability in humans, whereas cognitive abilities of animals mainly modular.
Needs to be defined formally in respect to a specific goal. Biological intelligence should be defined in terms of fitness or goals e.g. choosing a good mate.
Vickery & Neuringer (2000) - Different intelligences are employed in different situations by different species.
What is evidence for behavioural evolution within comparative cognition?
Tinbergen et al. (1963) - Eggshell removal in gulls. Bird leaves chicks to drop off egg shells. Removing them protects offspring by predators.
Looked at other gull species unaccessible to predators - they did not remove eggs from nest.
Fullard et al. (2004) - Bat avoidance behaviour in moths. Bats search for moths by using ultrasonic cries. On island of Tahiti, Bats not present yet auditory nerves of moths still fire to bat cries, but did not drop to the ground. In the absence of selection, the sensory input has been decoupled from the motor avoidance response.
This is an example of natural selection shaping cognition.
Describe the process of mate bonding within comparative cogniton
Evolutionary psychologists understand human behaviour through considering the pressures that led to their evolution.
Most mammals form mating bonds.
Polyandry - Matting arrangement where 1 female bonds with more than 1 male. Only in species where reproductive contributions of males are greater than those of females. Males need better ability to process and remember spatial info than females.
Monogamy - Bonds formed between 1 male and female. In species where each female could raise more young if had more help. Need similar abilities to find way around.
When comparing species differences in cognition, it must be based on more than 1 test.
Describe neuronal density within comparative cogniton
Herculano-Houzel (2009, 2011) - Neuronal density scales are different across mammals. Addition of neurons results in addition of space dedicated to those neurons. Number of neurons is correlated in cerebral cortex and cerebellum. In primates, cerebral cortex increases in mass as gains neurons to a greater degree than the cerebellum therefore its relative mass increases
Cognition depends on an absolute feature of the brain e.g. total number of corticial neurons and conduction velocity of fibres.
What are the limitations in comparing brain sizes across species?
Much research has questioned why some have larger brains relative to body weight.
The foraging hypothesis explores the connection between brain and cognitive abilities. Says that fruit eating species need good spatial and temporal learning abilities for tracking scattered locations.
Led to the question of exploring how parts of the brain evolve in association with specific behaviours. Whether it is concerted or mosaic.
Same brain parts in many veretebrates, but sizes are structures characteristics of each group.
Explain the difference between convergent and divergent evolution
Convergent - Evolution in unreleated species of similar solutions to some environmental demands. Evolve an analgous structure which is similarity of function and characteristics, not necessairly similar in apperance.
Divergent - Groups from the same common ancestor evolve and accumulate differences resulting in the formation of a new species. have a homologous structure - similar structure but different functions.
Explain whether or not tool use is unique to humans
Holzhaider et al. (2008) argue that tool use is not unique to humans. Successful tool use in wild can rely on associative learning. In crows, if pick up tool in wrong direction they still try to use it.
Shettleworth - Suggests tool use is social e.g. chimps in different areas use tools differently.
Trap tube - Transparent tube with peanut in the middle placed in cage. When given sticks, monkeys used them to get peanuts. To do this they needed to understand the requirements of situation.
Insight
Thinking through alternatives and potential results.
- Heinrich and Bugnyar (2007) - Crows pull up fishing line with good attached. Those who have never performed it before show trial and error learning. Phase 2: pull it up over barrier. Naive did not pull down on string to pull it closer.
- Kohler (1925) - Apes could demonstrate insight from suddenly grabbing food out of tube. However, could be carrying known behavs from past. Might not happen immediately.
- Epstein et al. (1984) - Pigeons solve banana and box prob.
Instrumental Incentive Learning
- Trial and error learning.
- Taylor et al. (2010) - String pulling in crows. Restrictive feedback condition has no visulaisation, crows either fail or solve by trial and error. When mirror is acting as visual feedback, naive crows perform like experienced. Suggest simply associative learning might underpin behaviour, may rely on basic learning mechanisms. Feedback important.
- Shettleworth - Successful tool use in wild may rely on assocative learning and procedural knowledge. If worked before, try again.
Is collaboration unique to humans? Provide evidence for this.
Cooperation
- Animals influence behaviour of others by signals. Animals do not combine signals to create new meaning whereas humans do.
- Melis, Hare and Tomasello (2006) - Chimps recongise when a collaborater is needed. Only cooperate with effective helpers, those who have been fair collaboraters before. Evidence for social constraints - ability to solve cooperative problems.
- Bullinger, Melis and Tomasello (2011) - Chimps prefer to reach goals on their own. Only change ways if benefit from collaborating.
- Chimps can cooperate, but not with the same motivations as humans.
Is theory of mind unique to humans? Provide evidence for this
TOM is knowing what others see.
- Hare, Call and Tomasello (2000) - Food in middle of room. Subordinate goes for food only they can see. Know dominant cannot see it, so safer.
- Hare, Call and Tomasello (2001) - Both see food being hidden. Subordinate understands what others have seen.
- Also know what others intend. Chimp waits longer for food if clumsy.
False Belief Tasks
- Hare, Call and Tomasello (2001) - Don’t understand that some have a false belief of world. Some sort of theory of mind, diff from humans. Understand others in terms perception, goal psycholog.
Is social learning unique to humans? Explain
Gould and Gould (1994) - Mobbing behaviour in crows. Naive crows arousal level increases from seeing experiencing react to predator which is a stuffed animal. Associates this with it and shows mobbing behav when presented with non-predatory stimulus. Happened due to the social environment.
Imitation
- Achieving the same goal, understanding intentions of others.
- Chimps are able to reproduce behaviour of others.
- Bird song learning - Hearing own song more important, phase depends on stimuli for learning. Can percieve songs they near sing themeselves if recognise from neighbours.
- Shettleworth - Human culture unique because over generations changes are adopted and further ellaborated in the next. Over generations it ratches up. Leads to shortcuts in learning.
- Tennie, Call and Tomaslleo (2009) - Human social learning more about process than product. We modify culture over time and cooperate as want others to learn. Social motivations for conformity
- The unique social skills and motivations of humans are a scaffold for developing human cognitive skills.
Explain the social brain hypothesis
Dunbar (2009) - Increased group size correlates with a larger neocortex. Need bigger brains to deal with large groups.
Humans capable of 5th order intentionality. Performance drops past 5th. Chimps have 2nd order.
