Animal Cognition最新文献

Rats and mice rapidly update timed behaviors.

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2025-01-24 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-025-01930-9

N Aggadi, S Krikawa, T A Paine, P Simen, C D Howard

{"title":"Rats and mice rapidly update timed behaviors.","authors":"N Aggadi, S Krikawa, T A Paine, P Simen, C D Howard","doi":"10.1007/s10071-025-01930-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-025-01930-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Keeping track of time intervals is a crucial aspect of behavior and cognition. Many theoretical models of how the brain times behavior make predictions for steady-state performance of well-learned intervals, but the rate of learning intervals in these models varies greatly, ranging from one-shot learning to learning over thousands of trials. Here, we explored how quickly rats and mice adapt to changes in interval durations using a serial fixed-interval task. In the first experiment, animals experienced randomly selected fixed-intervals of 12, 24, 36, 48, or 60 s, for blocks ranging from 13 to 21 trials. Consistent with previous work, animals abruptly increased lever pressing as reward availability approached, and these 'start times' scaled with the interval duration for both species. We then quantified the rate of updating to new trial durations and found that rodents consistently updated their start times within 2-3 trials following a change in interval duration, before stabilizing their behavior by the third or fourth trial. To account for repeated exposures to fixed-interval durations, a second set of animals was tested with new fixed-intervals after being trained on the serial fixed-interval task described above. Next, a third group was trained on fixed-interval durations that were generated de novo in each day. In each of these contexts, rodents rapidly increased or decreased their start times to mirror new FI durations following exposure to 1-2 trials of new intervals following block transitions. This work adds to growing evidence for rapid duration learning across species, highlighting the need for timing models to be capable of rapid updating in dynamic temporal scenarios.</p>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"28 1","pages":"6"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11759285/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143027938","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Current predation risk has opposing effects on social learning of foraging locations across two guppy populations 目前的捕食风险对两种孔雀鱼种群觅食地点的社会学习有相反的影响

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2025-01-07 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01929-8

Mélanie F. Guigueno, Adrian C. K. Foster, Simon M. Reader

{"title":"Current predation risk has opposing effects on social learning of foraging locations across two guppy populations","authors":"Mélanie F. Guigueno, Adrian C. K. Foster, Simon M. Reader","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01929-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01929-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Social learning, where animals learn from other individuals, occurs in many diverse species. The influential but debated ‘costly information’ hypothesis posits that animals will rely more on social information in high-risk contexts, such as under increased predation risk. We examined and compared the effects of perceived predation risk on social learning of foraging sites in female Trinidadian guppies from wild and domestic populations raised in common-garden environments. We used a demonstrator-observer pairing where a subject could observe conspecific ‘demonstrators’ feeding from one of two feeders, and measured whether the observer subsequently spent more time at a demonstrated or non-demonstrated feeder. We manipulated perceived predation risk using alarm cue (conspecific skin extract). Stress responses and social learning differed between the two populations. Most notably, high predation risk enhanced social learning in the wild-type guppies, but depressed it in the domestic guppies. Thus, fish from both populations were able to socially learn, but under opposing contexts. These results suggest social learning propensities are the product of multiple interacting systems, and biases to favour social learning can emerge dependent on evolutionary history and current conditions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01929-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142938714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Strange features are no better than no features: predator recognition by untrained birds 奇怪的特征并不比没有特征好：未经训练的鸟类对捕食者的识别

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2025-01-07 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01924-z

Ondřej Fišer, Irena Strnadová, Petr Veselý, Michaela Syrová, Michal Němec, Barbora Kamišová, Josef Šalom, Roman Fuchs

{"title":"Strange features are no better than no features: predator recognition by untrained birds","authors":"Ondřej Fišer, Irena Strnadová, Petr Veselý, Michaela Syrová, Michal Němec, Barbora Kamišová, Josef Šalom, Roman Fuchs","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01924-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01924-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Predator recognition is essential for prey survival, allowing for appropriate antipredator strategies. Some bird species, such as the red-backed shrike (<i>Lanius collurio</i>), distinguish not only between predators and non-threatening species but also between different predator species. Earlier studies have identified general predator “key features”, especially beak shape and talons, as critical for predator recognition. The question, though, still remains of whether exchanging predator key features with those of nonpredatory species or, alternatively, completely removing them, have different or equal impact on recognition. Here we tested to ascertain whether the presence of the “incorrect key features” of a harmless pigeon (<i>Columba livia</i>) placed on a common kestrel (<i>Falco tinnunculus</i>) body impairs predator recognition more efficiently than the absence of any key features. We presented an unmodified kestrel dummy and two modified kestrel dummies (one with pigeon key features, the other lacking key features) to wild red-backed shrikes defending their nest. The shrikes attacked the unmodified dummy kestrel more intensively than both kestrel modifications when defending the nest. However, shrikes did not show different responses to the kestrel with pigeon key features and the featureless kestrel. Our findings show that the absence and exchange of key features have the same effect in this case. These results are discussed in the context of recognition of a specific predator species and predators as a category in general.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01924-z.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142938715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Contrasting two versions of the 4-cup 2-item disjunctive syllogism task in great apes 类人猿4杯2项析取三段论任务的两个版本的对比

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2025-01-02 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01927-w

Benjamin Jones, Josep Call

{"title":"Contrasting two versions of the 4-cup 2-item disjunctive syllogism task in great apes","authors":"Benjamin Jones, Josep Call","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01927-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01927-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Chimpanzees excel at inference tasks which require that they search for a single food item from partial information. Yet, when presented with 2-item tasks which test the same inference operation, chimpanzees show a consistent breakdown in performance. Here we test a diverse zoo-housed cohort (<i>n</i> = 24) comprising all 4 great ape species under the classic 4-cup 2-item task, previously administered to children and chimpanzees, and a modified task administered to baboons. The aim of this study is to delineate whether the divergent results reported from the literature are taxonomic differences or artefacts of their methodologies, while extending the literature to cover the remaining great ape species. We find that apes adaptively adjust their choice behaviour in both variants of the task, but that they perform better in trials where the information provided rules out a location rather than removes one of the food items. In a second experiment involving those subjects who passed the first, along with a group of naïve subjects, we test whether subjects were able to apply the logical operation selectively by including control trials where the correct response is reversed. Performance in standard trials breaks down with the addition of control trials, meaning that if apes did solve the first experiment logically, they are not capable of applying that logic flexibly. Considering this finding, we conclude that a 4-cup 2-item task may not be a suitable test of logical reasoning in great apes.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01927-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142912823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Playing with the rope: a house sparrow behaviour related to its breeding activity 玩绳子：一种家雀的行为与它的繁殖活动有关

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-12-24 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01921-2

José Ignacio Huertas-Gómez, Juan Manuel Peralta-Sánchez, Manuel Soler

{"title":"Playing with the rope: a house sparrow behaviour related to its breeding activity","authors":"José Ignacio Huertas-Gómez, Juan Manuel Peralta-Sánchez, Manuel Soler","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01921-2","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01921-2","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The house sparrow (<i>Passer domesticus</i>) is a gregarious generalist species, which makes it a good model for studying play. However, play has not been described for this species so far. We describe play behaviour in house sparrows for the first time, quantifying all play and play-related behaviours, searching for differences between the different sexes and ages, the possible association with reproductive success and the diffusion of this behaviour in the population. All behaviours were recorded from the end of 2018 breeding season to the start of the new one in 2019. Behaviours were classified into four levels of interaction of increasing complexity and intensity. Results showed that play behaviour was restricted to the breeding season, adult males played more often than the rest of the groups, and their behaviours correlated with the number of recruits they produced. Moreover, “Maximum Level” of play of the mothers significantly and positively correlated with that of their offspring, and the “Maximum Level” of an individual with the proportion of playing siblings. Despite the limitations of the present study, our results point out the existence of benefits for the reproductive success of playing individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"28 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01921-2.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142880525","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Egg retrieval in ground-nesting cuckoo hosts: can two species of buntings accurately identify and retrieve their own eggs? 在地面筑巢的杜鹃寄主中取蛋：两种猎鸟能否准确地识别和取回自己的蛋？

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-12-12 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01919-w

Yuhan Zhang, Guo Zhong, Longwu Wang, Wei Liang

{"title":"Egg retrieval in ground-nesting cuckoo hosts: can two species of buntings accurately identify and retrieve their own eggs?","authors":"Yuhan Zhang, Guo Zhong, Longwu Wang, Wei Liang","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01919-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01919-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Egg retrieval in birds may help ensure the survival of eggs and improve reproductive success. However, with the risk of brood parasitism, for ground-nesting or cavity-nesting bird hosts, there is a significant reproductive cost and thus a reduction in fitness if the host wrongly retrieved the parasitic eggs. The south rock bunting <i>(Emberiza yunnanensis</i>) and yellow-throated bunting (<i>E. elegans</i>) are hosts for common cuckoos (<i>Cuculus canorus</i>), which coexist within the study area and breed sympatrically in ground nests. Previous studies have found that these two species exhibit strong egg recognition and egg rejection of non-mimetic eggs. In this study, red model eggs, budgerigar eggs, and the host’s own eggs were used to assess the recognition and retrieval behavior of two bunting hosts, particularly in response to different types of eggs placed at the nest edge. The results showed that both bunting hosts retrieved ca. 80% of own eggs and did not retrieve any red model eggs. This indicated that both species could distinguish non-mimetic model eggs from their own eggs and make appropriate decisions, which is consistent with their responses when encountering foreign eggs in the nest. However, both species simultaneously retrieved some (8.3% for the yellow-throated bunting and 19% for south rock bunting) of the highly mimetic budgerigar eggs, indicating that the degree of mimicry of foreign eggs affects their egg recognition and egg retrieval behavior. Factors such as parasitism risk, nest predation pressure, age differences, and experience of parent birds may combine to influence egg retrieval behavior of the host.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01919-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142811307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Mechanical problem solving by plush-crested jays: are tools special after all? 长毛冠鸦解决机械问题：工具到底特别吗？

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-12-06 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01922-1

Jimena Lois-Milevicich, Lauriane Rat-Fischer, María Alicia de la Colina, Raúl Orencio Gómez, Juan Carlos Reboreda, Alex Kacelnik

{"title":"Mechanical problem solving by plush-crested jays: are tools special after all?","authors":"Jimena Lois-Milevicich, Lauriane Rat-Fischer, María Alicia de la Colina, Raúl Orencio Gómez, Juan Carlos Reboreda, Alex Kacelnik","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01922-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01922-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Tool use is taxonomically associated with high behavioural flexibility and innovativeness, and its prevalence is greater in primates and some bird species. This association, however, is not known to be causally determinant of tool-related competence since flexibility and innovativeness are often observed in the absence of tool use and vice versa. For this reason, it is interesting to explore whether animals that can be loosely categorized as outstanding, or ‘intelligent’ physical problem solvers, are also remarkable using tools innovatively, rather than tool use presenting special constraints. We investigate this problem using plush-crested jays (<i>Cyanocorax chrysops</i>), a corvid new to cognitive research that shows highly flexible and inquisitive behaviour in the wild and has not been reported to use tools. We tested jays in two tasks of apparent similar manipulative complexity and incentive, one involving a tool (T) and the other not (NT). In the NT task birds had to open a box with a transparent lid blocked by a latch to get a reward, whereas in the T task, they had to use a rake to pull out the reward from the box. Eight out of nine subjects succeeded in the NT task, whereas none of them learned to solve the T task. This is consistent with tool use involving dedicated competencies, rather than just high problem-solving proficiency.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01922-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142778479","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Information-seeking in mice (Mus musculus) during visual discrimination: study using a distractor elimination paradigm 小鼠（小家鼠）在视觉辨别过程中的信息寻找：使用干扰物消除范式的研究

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-12-02 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01920-3

Yuya Hataji, Kazuhiro Goto

{"title":"Information-seeking in mice (Mus musculus) during visual discrimination: study using a distractor elimination paradigm","authors":"Yuya Hataji, Kazuhiro Goto","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01920-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01920-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Some animals seek information to solve problems when they do not know the answer. Information-seeking behavior has become a key focus in studies of animal metacognition, providing insights into how animals monitor their own knowledge states. This behavior is thought to be a form of metacognitive control. Nevertheless, research on such metacognitive control has been biased toward specific taxa, such as primates, and has not been conducted in rodents, which are the most common experimental animals. This study examined whether mice exhibit information-seeking behavior during two visual discrimination tasks and what factors influence this behavior. We trained mice to discriminate between stimuli differing in luminance or orientation, with more minor differences increasing task difficulty. An information-seeking option was introduced during these tasks, allowing mice to eliminate distractor stimuli and ensure a correct response. The results indicated that mice sought information more frequently during difficult discriminations than easier ones. However, subsequent generalization tests revealed that the mice relied on environmental cues to utilize the information-seeking option. These findings suggest that information-seeking behavior in mice may not solely reflect metacognitive processes, and further investigation is needed to explore alternative explanations.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01920-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142757996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Bumblebee social learning outcomes correlate with their flower-facing behaviour 大黄蜂的社会学习成果与其面向花朵的行为有关

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-11-26 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01918-x

Yuyi Lu, Zhenwei Zhuo, Mark Roper, Lars Chittka, Cwyn Solvi, Fei Peng, Ying Zhou

{"title":"Bumblebee social learning outcomes correlate with their flower-facing behaviour","authors":"Yuyi Lu, Zhenwei Zhuo, Mark Roper, Lars Chittka, Cwyn Solvi, Fei Peng, Ying Zhou","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01918-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01918-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Previous studies suggest that social learning in bumblebees can occur through second-order conditioning, with conspecifics functioning as first-order reinforcers. However, the behavioural mechanisms underlying bumblebees’ acquisition of socially learned associations remain largely unexplored. Investigating these mechanisms requires detailed quantification and analysis of the observation process. Here we designed a new 2D paradigm suitable for simple top-down high-speed video recording and analysed bumblebees’ observational learning process using a deep-learning-based pose-estimation framework. Two groups of bumblebees observed live conspecifics foraging from either blue or yellow flowers during a single foraging bout, and were subsequently tested for their socially learned colour preferences. Both groups successfully learned the colour indicated by the demonstrators and spent more time facing rewarding flowers—whether occupied by demonstrators or not—compared to non-rewarding flowers. While both groups showed a negative correlation between time spent facing non-rewarding flowers and learning outcomes, the observer bees in the blue group benefited from time spent facing occupied rewarding flowers, whereas the yellow group showed that time facing unoccupied rewarding flowers by the observer bees positively correlated with their learning outcomes. These results suggest that socially influenced colour preferences are shaped by the interplay of different types of observations rather than merely by observing a conspecific at a single colour. Together, these findings provide direct evidence of the dynamical viewing process of observer bees during social observation, opening up new opportunities for exploring the details of more complex social learning in bumblebees and other insects.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01918-x.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142714571","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Comments on “Comparing the productive vocabularies of Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) and young children” 关于 "比较灰鹦鹉（Psittacus erithacus）和幼儿的生产性词汇 "的评论

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-11-25 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01917-y

Irene M. Pepperberg

{"title":"Comments on “Comparing the productive vocabularies of Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) and young children”","authors":"Irene M. Pepperberg","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01917-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01917-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Roubalová et al. (Anim Cogn 27(45), 2024) have written an intriguing paper in which they compare the acquired human speech patterns of Grey parrots (<i>Psittacus erithacus</i>) raised as companion animals to those of typically developing human toddlers (<i>Homo sapiens</i>) predominantly raised by stay-at-home mothers; birds and humans were ostensibly matched for vocabulary size. The authors’ data collection and analyses are impressive and I applaud their efforts; however, I take exception to their assumptions, as they clearly state in their Introduction, that children and parrots received comparable input and their conclusions, also clearly stated, that the differences observed in initial output were a consequence primarily of human uniqueness—i.e., as they argue, “the sociocognitive specifics of the human language.” Contrary to the authors’ claims, the input received by the parrots was very likely quite impoverished when compared to that of the children. Moreover, the birds were acquiring a heterospecific communication code from heterospecific models whereas the children were learning a conspecific code from conspecifics; the birds’ experiences were therefore somewhat more like that of humans learning a second language without explicit instruction. Thus, the conclusions drawn from the authors’ meticulous research should be on how much communicative behavior parrots can acquire despite receiving input of inadequate quality and quantity, rather than on direct comparisons with human toddlers receiving optimal input.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01917-y.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142694814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0