Finding and hoarding food Flashcards
What is ingestive behaviour?
Behaviour that includes foraging, hoarding and feeding
What is socio-ecology?
The study of the effect of ecological factors on the interactions between individuals and on the social organisation of the group
What is fission-fusion group dynamics and why is it believed to lead to the enhancement of certain cognitive abilities?
- Societies with a group of constantly changing composition
- Variation in spatial cohesion and individual membership over time
- Spatial and temporal dispersion creates particular cognitive challenges
What have tests of executive control found between species of monkeys?
Divide species into groups which reflect their social groups rather than phylogeny
What are stages 4,5 and 6 of Piaget’s object permanence? Which species can achieve 6?
4 - recovery of hidden objects
5 - visible displacements
6 - invisible displacements (parrots and apes)
How do rats and mice differ in their search for food in a radial arm maze?
Rats - random but accurate search
Mice - sequential search
Implicates different cognitive mechanisms!
How has the hippocampus been implicated in spatial processing?
- Water maze performance seen to be dependent on hippocampal lesions
- Cross species: larger hippocampi in polygamous mole males, food storing birds, hummingbirds and brown-deaded cowbird which keeps track of multiple nesting sites
How do animals use endogenous rythms for food retrieval?
- Allows for synchronisation of physiology and behaviour, tracking food availability and changes in the environment
- SCN implicated
What is cropping and where has it been identified?
- Visiting food resources at the time of their replenishment
- Shown in hummingbirds
In which species has episodic-like memory been found?
Scrub-jays: Time their visits on when cached food will be available
