Compartive Behavior Lecture 10

What is cognition in animals?

Cognition is how animals take in information through their senses, how the brain processes and retains it, and how it’s used later to guide behavior.

What aspects of behavior does animal cognition study?

It studies perception, learning, memory, and decision-making.

What are the two main questions asked by cognitive ethology?

1) Are cognitive abilities shaped by natural selection and ecology? 2) How widespread are these abilities across species?

What does the cognitive ecology hypothesis propose?

That cognitive abilities evolve in response to ecological and social pressures through natural selection.

What is the example of cognition studied in paper wasps?

Facial recognition learning based on species-specific social behavior.

Which species of paper wasp has distinctive facial patterns?

Polistes fuscatus (a highly social species).

What is different about Polistes metricus?

It is solitary and lacks distinctive facial patterns.

What hypothesis did Elizabeth Tibbetts test with paper wasps?

That facial recognition evolved in social species to help maintain dominance hierarchies.

How was the wasp facial recognition experiment set up?

Using a Y-maze with two faces and an electric shock on one arm to test learning and avoidance.

Why was the shock side switched between trials?

To prevent wasps from learning based on side preference instead of facial recognition.

What did the results show about P. fuscatus?

They learned to avoid the shock by recognizing specific faces.

Did P. metricus show the same facial learning?

No, they performed at chance levels, showing little to no facial recognition ability.

Why can’t we just conclude that P. fuscatus is better at face learning?

Because the first test only used P. fuscatus faces, which might disadvantage P. metricus.

What happened when P. metricus faces were used?

P. metricus still performed poorly, confirming a lack of facial recognition ability.

What conclusion did the wasp study support?

That facial recognition is a cognitive trait shaped by social structure, supporting cognitive ethology.

What is the second cognitive ecology example discussed?

Spatial memory in Clark’s nutcrackers, a food-caching bird.

Why is spatial memory important for Clark’s nutcrackers?

They make up to 7,000 food caches and must remember their locations to survive winter.

What hypothesis was tested in the nutcracker study?

That they use enhanced spatial memory, not random search or other cues, to recover food caches.

How was the nutcracker caching experiment set up?

Birds cached food in an arena; some were allowed to cache, others were not. Researchers manipulated cache locations.

Why did researchers remove some caches and add their own?

To see if birds searched for their own missing caches and ignored those they didn’t create.

What were the results for caching vs. non-caching birds?

Caching birds recovered more than 50% of their own caches; non-cachers found only about 10%.

What did this suggest about the nutcrackers’ abilities?

That they rely on memory of their own caching locations, not just environmental cues.

How did non-caching birds perform better than random?

They likely used soil disturbances or landmarks to locate some caches.

What second hypothesis was tested about caching species?

That caching species should show better performance on memory tasks and have larger brain areas for memory.

How was general spatial memory tested?

Using a delayed non-match-to-sample task with illuminated pecking keys in a controlled lab setup.

What was the key variable in the pecking key memory test?

The retention interval—the time birds could remember which key was previously unlit.

What was the purpose of testing different bird species with an illuminated key task?

To measure how long each bird could remember which key was previously illuminated after varying delay intervals, in order to assess their spatial memory abilities.

Which bird species were tested in the experiment?

Clark's nutcracker (a caching species), the scrub jay (a related but less reliant caching species), and the pigeon (a non-caching species).

What were the results of the illuminated key memory test among the birds?

Clark's nutcracker showed superior memory retention, remembering for longer latency periods than both the scrub jay and the pigeon. The scrub jay did only slightly better than the pigeon.

What does the Clark’s nutcracker’s performance suggest?

It suggests that highly reliant caching birds have enhanced spatial memory compared to non-caching or less reliant caching species.

What was the next step taken to understand the difference in spatial memory?

Researchers examined the hippocampus size in various bird species to see if caching species had larger hippocampi than predicted for their body size.

What did the analysis of hippocampus size across bird species show?

There was no consistent relationship between hippocampus volume and caching behavior. Caching species did not consistently have larger hippocampi relative to body size than non-caching species.

What conclusion can be drawn from the hippocampus data?

Although behavioral data supports the idea of enhanced memory in caching species, the neuroanatomical data (hippocampus size) does not consistently support this, indicating mixed evidence for evolved superior spatial memory.

What is the domestication hypothesis regarding dogs?

It proposes that domestic dogs have evolved enhanced social cognition and communication abilities due to thousands of years of selective breeding with humans.

What mutual benefits might have encouraged early humans and wolves to form partnerships?

Wolves received food, shelter, and safety for raising pups, while humans gained help with hunting and later protection of livestock and crops.

Who proposed the domestication hypothesis and tested it scientifically?

Brian Hare from Duke University.

What task did Brian Hare use to test social cognition in dogs and chimpanzees?

A task involving two buckets, where a human used cues (like pointing or gaze) to indicate which bucket contained a treat.

How did dogs and chimpanzees perform in the cue-following task?

Dogs performed significantly better than chance and better than chimpanzees at following human gestures to find the hidden treat.

What does the dog’s ability to follow human gestures indicate?

That dogs have a specialized ability to interpret human social cues, possibly due to domestication.

What happened when dogs were given an unfamiliar cue, like a foot pointing?

The dog was confused and didn’t know how to respond, suggesting dogs may rely on familiar gestures learned through human interaction.

What are the three hypotheses Brian Hare proposed to explain dogs' skill in reading human gestures?

1. **Canid Generalization Hypothesis** – All canids naturally have this skill. 2. **Human Exposure Hypothesis** – Dogs learn it through living with humans. 3. (The third hypothesis is missing from your transcript, but it's known to be...) **Domestication Hypothesis** – Dogs evolved this skill specifically due to domestication and selective

What are the three hypotheses being tested in the dog vs. wolf social cue experiment?

The generalization hypothesis (all canids are good at reading human cues), the learning hypothesis (dogs learn this skill through human exposure), and the domestication hypothesis (dogs evolved to follow human cues through domestication).

What does the generalization hypothesis predict?

That all canids, including wolves and dogs raised by humans, should perform equally well on social cue tasks.

What were the results of the dog vs. wolf cue-following test?

Dogs did significantly better than wolves at following gaze and pointing cues, even when both were raised by humans.

What conclusion was drawn from the dog vs. wolf experiment?

The generalization hypothesis was not supported; dogs are better than wolves at reading human cues, suggesting an evolved trait.

What did researchers find when comparing dogs raised by humans vs. litter-reared dogs?

There was no difference in their ability to follow human cues, suggesting experience with humans is not necessary.

What hypothesis does the litter vs. human-raised dog experiment fail to support?

The learning hypothesis.

Which hypothesis is supported by both the wolf comparison and the rearing style comparison?

The domestication hypothesis.

What surprising finding did Brian Hare report about dogs?

Dogs can use human gestures to locate hidden items as well as human infants can.

Why is the ability of dogs to read human gestures considered remarkable?

Because few other species can do this, and dogs do it as well as children, likely due to domestication.

What is theory of mind?

The ability to understand that others have beliefs, intentions, and motivations different from one’s own.

Why is theory of mind important for humans?

It allows us to interpret others’ behaviors and have social interactions based on inferred mental states.

Is theory of mind thought to be uniquely human?

Historically, yes, but recent research challenges that view.

What kinds of animals have been tested for theory of mind?

Primates (chimps, bonobos) and corvids (ravens, crows, jays).

Why is testing theory of mind in animals difficult?

It’s complex to design experiments that can reliably test invisible mental states.

At what age do children typically develop theory of mind?

Between ages 3 and 5.

What food-caching bird was used to study theory of mind?

Ravens.

In the experiment, what happened when a raven knew it was being observed while caching food?

It changed its behavior to hide or obscure the caches.

What did the ravens do when they knew the window was closed?

They cached openly, not hiding the food as carefully.

What was the purpose of the peephole condition?

To test if ravens would behave cautiously even when they couldn't see the observer but knew they could be seen.

How did ravens act when the peephole was open and raven calls were played?

They guarded their caches more carefully, acting as if they were being watched.

What does this raven behavior suggest?

Ravens may have a basic form of theory of mind—they infer they are being observed even without seeing the observer.

Why is this not definitive proof of theory of mind?

Because inferring mental states is complex, and the evidence, while strong, is not conclusive.

What makes this raven experiment significant?

It shows ravens can behave based on inferred perspectives of others, which is a key element of theory of mind.