Clever Corvids: using tools (Introduction)

by David Turell , Saturday, August 29, 2015, 00:08 (3375 days ago) @ David Turell

It seems they learn by some degree of emulation and trial and error:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150826113817.htm-"She designed the experiment based on apparatus used by University of Leeds zoologist Will Hoppitt in a similar study he conducted on meerkats. "I used two apparatuses with multiple access points on each," she said, "so we could look at whether the crows were imitating or emulating, whether they were just paying attention to another crow's general location or whether they were paying attention to a specific area on an apparatus that another crow was interacting with."-"Logan and colleagues found that the crows don't imitate or copy actions at all. "So there goes that theory," she said. "Assuming how they learn in a non-tool context carries over to a tool context, they wouldn't copy the actions of individuals they see cutting up Pandanus leaves to make tools."-"But Logan and her team did strong evidence of social learning: If one crow sees a companion interacting with a particular area of the apparatus, reaching its bill through a door and pulling out a piece of boiled egg -- the treat -- the former is far more likely to try that particular door on either apparatus before choosing the other access options.-"'It's called stimulus enhancement," she explained. "That's the social learning mechanism they're using. But there's another interesting aspect: Once they see another bird interact with the door, they go to that door and then begin to solve the problem on their own. And now they completely ignore social information and they just use trial and error learning to open the door and extract the food.'"-Comment: Tool use has to be learned. It is not programmed as an instinct.