Animal Cognition最新文献_第9页

Perception of vocoded speech in domestic dogs 家犬对语音编码的感知

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-04-16 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01869-3

Amritha Mallikarjun, Emily Shroads, Rochelle S. Newman

{"title":"Perception of vocoded speech in domestic dogs","authors":"Amritha Mallikarjun, Emily Shroads, Rochelle S. Newman","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01869-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01869-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Humans have an impressive ability to comprehend signal-degraded speech; however, the extent to which comprehension of degraded speech relies on human-specific features of speech perception vs. more general cognitive processes is unknown. Since dogs live alongside humans and regularly hear speech, they can be used as a model to differentiate between these possibilities. One often-studied type of degraded speech is noise-vocoded speech (sometimes thought of as cochlear-implant-simulation speech). Noise-vocoded speech is made by dividing the speech signal into frequency bands (channels), identifying the amplitude envelope of each individual band, and then using these envelopes to modulate bands of noise centered over the same frequency regions – the result is a signal with preserved temporal cues, but vastly reduced frequency information. Here, we tested dogs’ recognition of familiar words produced in 16-channel vocoded speech. In the first study, dogs heard their names and unfamiliar dogs’ names (foils) in vocoded speech as well as natural speech. In the second study, dogs heard 16-channel vocoded speech only. Dogs listened longer to their vocoded name than vocoded foils in both experiments, showing that they can comprehend a 16-channel vocoded version of their name without prior exposure to vocoded speech, and without immediate exposure to the natural-speech version of their name. Dogs’ name recognition in the second study was mediated by the number of phonemes in the dogs’ name, suggesting that phonological context plays a role in degraded speech comprehension.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01869-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140613761","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

Figure-ground segmentation based on motion in the archerfish 基于箭鱼运动的图地分割

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-04-15 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01873-7

Svetlana Volotsky, Ronen Segev

{"title":"Figure-ground segmentation based on motion in the archerfish","authors":"Svetlana Volotsky, Ronen Segev","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01873-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01873-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Figure-ground segmentation is a fundamental process in visual perception that involves separating visual stimuli into distinct meaningful objects and their surrounding context, thus allowing the brain to interpret and understand complex visual scenes. Mammals exhibit varying figure-ground segmentation capabilities, ranging from primates that can perform well on figure-ground segmentation tasks to rodents that perform poorly. To explore figure-ground segmentation capabilities in teleost fish, we studied how the archerfish, an expert visual hunter, performs figure-ground segmentation. We trained archerfish to discriminate foreground objects from the background, where the figures were defined by motion as well as by discontinuities in intensity and texture. Specifically, the figures were defined by grating, naturalistic texture, and random noise moving in counterphase with the background. The archerfish performed the task well and could distinguish between all three types of figures and grounds. Their performance was comparable to that of primates and outperformed rodents. These findings suggest the existence of a complex visual process in the archerfish visual system that enables the delineation of figures as distinct from backgrounds, and provide insights into object recognition in this animal.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01873-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140560448","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

How to solve novel problems: the role of associative learning in problem-solving performance in wild great tits Parus major 如何解决新问题：联想学习在野生大山雀（Parus major）解决问题过程中的作用

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-04-12 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01872-8

Laure Cauchard, Pierre Bize, Blandine Doligez

{"title":"How to solve novel problems: the role of associative learning in problem-solving performance in wild great tits Parus major","authors":"Laure Cauchard, Pierre Bize, Blandine Doligez","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01872-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01872-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Although problem-solving tasks are frequently used to assess innovative ability, the extent to which problem-solving performance reflects variation in cognitive skills has been rarely formally investigated. Using wild breeding great tits facing a new non-food motivated problem-solving task, we investigated the role of associative learning in finding the solution, compared to multiple other non-cognitive factors. We first examined the role of accuracy (the proportion of contacts made with the opening part of a string-pulling task), neophobia, exploration, activity, age, sex, body condition and participation time on the ability to solve the task. To highlight the effect of associative learning, we then compared accuracy between solvers and non-solvers, before and after the first cue to the solution (i.e., the first time they pulled the string opening the door). We finally compared accuracy over consecutive entrances for solvers. Using 884 observations from 788 great tits tested from 2010 to 2015, we showed that, prior to initial successful entrance, solvers were more accurate and more explorative than non-solvers, and that females were more likely to solve the task than males. The accuracy of solvers, but not of non-solvers, increased significantly after they had the opportunity to associate string pulling with the movement of the door, giving them a first cue to the task solution. The accuracy of solvers also increased over successive entrances. Our results demonstrate that variations in problem-solving performance primarily reflect inherent individual differences in associative learning, and are also to a lesser extent shaped by sex and exploratory behaviour.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01872-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140560372","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

Social demonstration of colour preference improves the learning of associated demonstrated actions 色彩偏好的社交演示可提高对相关演示动作的学习效果

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-04-09 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01865-7

Noam Zurek, Na’ama Aljadeff, Donya Khoury, Lucy M. Aplin, Arnon Lotem

{"title":"Social demonstration of colour preference improves the learning of associated demonstrated actions","authors":"Noam Zurek, Na’ama Aljadeff, Donya Khoury, Lucy M. Aplin, Arnon Lotem","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01865-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01865-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>We studied how different types of social demonstration improve house sparrows' (<i>Passer domesticus</i>) success in solving a foraging task that requires both operant learning (opening covers) and discrimination learning (preferring covers of the rewarding colour). We provided learners with either paired demonstration (of both cover opening and colour preference), action-only demonstration (of opening white covers only), or no demonstration (a companion bird eating without covers). We found that sparrows failed to learn the two tasks with no demonstration, and learned them best with a paired demonstration. Interestingly, the action of cover opening was learned faster with paired rather than action-only demonstration despite being equally demonstrated in both. We also found that only with paired demonstration, the speed of operant (action) learning was related to the demonstrator’s level of activity. Colour preference (i.e. discrimination learning) was eventually acquired by all sparrows that learned to open covers, even without social demonstration of colour preference. Thus, adding a demonstration of colour preference was actually more important for operant learning, possibly as a result of increasing the similarity between the demonstrated and the learned tasks, thereby increasing the learner’s attention to the actions of the demonstrator. Giving more attention to individuals in similar settings may be an adaptive strategy directing social learners to focus on ecologically relevant behaviours and on tasks that are likely to be learned successfully.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10071-024-01865-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140560773","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

No evidence tube entrapment distresses rodents in typical empathy tests 在典型的移情测试中，没有证据表明管子被夹住会使啮齿动物感到痛苦。

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-04-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01863-9

Dwi Atmoko Agung Nugroho, Sri Kusrohmaniah, Emma Pilz, Clare Krikorian, David Kearns, Burton Slotnick, Maria Gomez, Alan Silberberg

{"title":"No evidence tube entrapment distresses rodents in typical empathy tests","authors":"Dwi Atmoko Agung Nugroho, Sri Kusrohmaniah, Emma Pilz, Clare Krikorian, David Kearns, Burton Slotnick, Maria Gomez, Alan Silberberg","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01863-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01863-9","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In the first two experiments an empty tube open at one end was placed in different locations. Male hamsters, tested one at a time, tended to stay close to the tube or in it. During the first minute of the first 4 sessions of Experiment 3, the hamster was unrestrained. If it entered the tube, it was locked within the tube. If it did not enter the tube during the first min, it was placed in it, and the tube was locked. Fifteen min later, the tube was opened, and the hamster was unrestrained for a further 20 min. The tube remained open during Session 5. Hamsters spent more time near the tube than predicted by chance and continued to enter the tube although tube-occupancy duration did not differ from chance levels. In Experiment 4, male rats were tested in two groups: rats in one group had been previously trapped in a tube and rats in the other group allowed to freely explore the test space. For the first two min of each of four 20-min sessions, trapped-group subjects were permitted to move about the chamber unless they entered the tube. In that case, they were locked in for the remainder of the session. If, after two min, they did not enter the tube, they were locked in it for the remaining 18 min. Free rats were unrestricted in all sessions. In Session 5, when both groups were permitted to move freely in the chamber, trapped and free rats spent more time in and near the tube than predicted by chance. These data show tube restraint does not seem to distress either hamsters or rats.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10984888/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140334443","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

A preliminary analysis of the effect of individual differences on cognitive performance in young companion dogs 个体差异对幼年伴侣犬认知能力影响的初步分析。

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-04-01 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01868-4

Jordan G. Smith, Sarah Krichbaum, Lane Montgomery, Emma Cox, Jeffrey S. Katz

{"title":"A preliminary analysis of the effect of individual differences on cognitive performance in young companion dogs","authors":"Jordan G. Smith, Sarah Krichbaum, Lane Montgomery, Emma Cox, Jeffrey S. Katz","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01868-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01868-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Many factors influence cognitive performance in dogs, including breed, temperament, rearing history, and training. Studies in working dog populations have demonstrated age-related improvements in cognitive task performance across the first years of development. However, the effect of certain factors, such as age, sex, and temperament, on cognitive performance in puppies has yet to be evaluated in a more diverse population of companion dogs. In this study, companion dogs under 12 months of age were tested once on two tasks purported to measure aspects of executive function: the delayed-search task (DST) and the detour reversal task (DRT). Owners also filled out the Canine Behavioral Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) to evaluate how temperament influenced task performance. Contrary to prior research, performance did not improve with age on either task. However, the lack of age effects was likely the result of small sample sizes and individual differences across other factors influencing performance. Specifically, temperament differences as measured by the C-BARQ subscales for nonsocial fear and excitability predicted task performance on the DST, but the effect of temperament on task performance differed between males and females. Excitability also predicted performance on the DRT, but the effect depended on the age of the dog. In addition, no correlations were observed between task measures, indicating a lack of construct validity. Overall, these findings provide a preliminary analysis of factors that appear to influence cognitive task performance in young companion dogs and highlight suggestions for future research evaluating the impact of individual differences on cognitive performance.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10984887/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140334412","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

Do dogs preferentially encode the identity of the target object or the location of others’ actions? 狗是优先对目标对象的身份进行编码，还是优先对他人行动的位置进行编码？

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-03-30 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01870-w

Lucrezia Lonardo, Christoph J. Völter, Robert Hepach, Claus Lamm, Ludwig Huber

{"title":"Do dogs preferentially encode the identity of the target object or the location of others’ actions?","authors":"Lucrezia Lonardo, Christoph J. Völter, Robert Hepach, Claus Lamm, Ludwig Huber","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01870-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01870-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The ability to make sense of and predict others’ actions is foundational for many socio-cognitive abilities. Dogs (<i>Canis familiaris</i>) constitute interesting comparative models for the study of action perception due to their marked sensitivity to human actions. We tested companion dogs (<i>N</i> = 21) in two screen-based eye-tracking experiments, adopting a task previously used with human infants and apes, to assess which aspects of an agent’s action dogs consider relevant to the agent’s underlying intentions. An agent was shown repeatedly acting upon the same one of two objects, positioned in the same location. We then presented the objects in swapped locations and the agent approached the objects centrally (Experiment 1) or the old object in the new location or the new object in the old location (Experiment 2). Dogs’ anticipatory fixations and looking times did not reflect an expectation that agents should have continued approaching the same object nor the same location as witnessed during the brief familiarization phase; this contrasts with some findings with infants and apes, but aligns with findings in younger infants before they have sufficient motor experience with the observed action. However, dogs’ pupil dilation and latency to make an anticipatory fixation suggested that, if anything, dogs expected the agents to keep approaching the same location rather than the same object, and their looking times showed sensitivity to the animacy of the agents. We conclude that dogs, lacking motor experience with the observed actions of grasping or kicking performed by a human or inanimate agent, might interpret such actions as directed toward a specific location rather than a specific object. Future research will need to further probe the suitability of anticipatory looking as measure of dogs’ socio-cognitive abilities given differences between the visual systems of dogs and primates.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10980658/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140326262","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

Inhibitory control in teleost fish: a methodological and conceptual review 远洋鱼类的抑制控制：方法和概念综述。

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-03-26 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01867-5

Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato

{"title":"Inhibitory control in teleost fish: a methodological and conceptual review","authors":"Tyrone Lucon-Xiccato","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01867-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01867-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Inhibitory control (IC) plays a central role in behaviour control allowing an individual to resist external lures and internal predispositions. While IC has been consistently investigated in humans, other mammals, and birds, research has only recently begun to explore IC in other vertebrates. This review examines current literature on teleost fish, focusing on both methodological and conceptual aspects. I describe the main paradigms adopted to study IC in fish, identifying well-established tasks that fit various research applications and highlighting their advantages and limitations. In the conceptual analysis, I identify two well-developed lines of research with fish examining IC. The first line focuses on a comparative approach aimed to describe IC at the level of species and to understand the evolution of interspecific differences in relation to ecological specialisation, brain size, and factors affecting cognitive performance. Findings suggest several similarities between fish and previously studied vertebrates. The second line of research focuses on intraspecific variability of IC. Available results indicate substantial variation in fish IC related to sex, personality, genetic, age, and phenotypic plasticity, aligning with what is observed with other vertebrates. Overall, this review suggests that although data on teleosts are still scarce compared to mammals, the contribution of this group to IC research is already substantial and can further increase in various disciplines including comparative psychology, cognitive ecology, and neurosciences, and even in applied fields such as psychiatry research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10965611/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140292550","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

Trained quantity discrimination in the invasive red-eared slider and a comparison with the native stripe-necked turtle 入侵红耳滑龟的训练数量辨别能力以及与本地条颈龟的比较。

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-03-26 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01850-0

Feng-Chun Lin, Pei-Jen Lee Shaner, Ming-Ying Hsieh, Martin J. Whiting, Si-Min Lin

{"title":"Trained quantity discrimination in the invasive red-eared slider and a comparison with the native stripe-necked turtle","authors":"Feng-Chun Lin, Pei-Jen Lee Shaner, Ming-Ying Hsieh, Martin J. Whiting, Si-Min Lin","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01850-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01850-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Little is known about the behavioral and cognitive traits that best predict invasion success. Evidence is mounting that cognitive performance correlates with survival and fecundity, two pivotal factors for the successful establishment of invasive populations. We assessed the quantity discrimination ability of the globally invasive red-eared slider (<i>Trachemys scripta elegans</i>). We further compared it to that of the native stripe-necked turtle (<i>Mauremys sinensis</i>), which has been previously evaluated for its superior quantity discrimination ability. Specifically, our experimental designs aimed to quantify the learning ability as numerosity pairs increased in difficulty (termed fixed numerosity tests), and the immediate response when turtles were presented with varied challenges concurrently in the same tests (termed mixed numerosity tests). Our findings reaffirm the remarkable ability of freshwater turtles to discern numerical differences as close as 9 vs 10 (ratio = 0.9), which was comparable to the stripe-necked turtle’s performance. However, the red-eared slider exhibited a moderate decrease in performance in high ratio tests, indicating a potentially enhanced cognitive capacity to adapt to novel challenges. Our experimental design is repeatable and is adaptable to a range of freshwater turtles. These findings emphasize the potential importance of cognitive research to the underlying mechanisms of successful species invasions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10965720/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140292551","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

Environmental harshness does not affect the propensity for social learning in great tits, Parus major 环境恶劣不会影响大山雀（Parus major）的社会学习倾向。

IF 1.9 2区生物学

Animal Cognition Pub Date : 2024-03-12 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-024-01862-w

Emil Isaksson, Julie Morand-Ferron, Alexis Chaine

{"title":"Environmental harshness does not affect the propensity for social learning in great tits, Parus major","authors":"Emil Isaksson, Julie Morand-Ferron, Alexis Chaine","doi":"10.1007/s10071-024-01862-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10071-024-01862-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>According to the harsh environment hypothesis, natural selection should favour cognitive mechanisms to overcome environmental challenges. Tests of this hypothesis to date have largely focused on asocial learning and memory, thus failing to account for the spread of information via social means. Tests in specialized food-hoarding birds have shown strong support for the effects of environmental harshness on both asocial and social learning. Whether the hypothesis applies to non-specialist foraging species remains largely unexplored. We evaluated the relative importance of social learning across a known harshness gradient by testing generalist great tits, <i>Parus major,</i> from high (harsh)- and low (mild)-elevation populations in two social learning tasks. We showed that individuals use social learning to find food in both colour-associative and spatial foraging tasks and that individuals differed consistently in their use of social learning. However, we did not detect a difference in the use or speed of implementing socially observed information across the elevational gradient. Our results do not support predictions of the harsh environment hypothesis suggesting that context-dependent costs and benefits as well as plasticity in the use of social information may play an important role in the use of social learning across environments. Finally, this study adds to the accumulating evidence that the harsh environment hypothesis appears to have more pronounced effects on specialists compared to generalist species.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7879,"journal":{"name":"Animal Cognition","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2024-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10927812/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140100897","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