Clever Corvids: understanding probability (Introduction)

by David Turell , Friday, July 07, 2023, 17:46 (295 days ago) @ David Turell

Latest study:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2381335-crows-can-understand-probability-like-prim...

"Crows can make decisions according to the likelihood of getting a reward – a cognitive feat known to mathematicians as statistical inference, and rarely found outside of primates.

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"Her team trained two carrion crows (Corvus corone) to peck at nine, different-coloured symbols to receive a reward: a small food pellet or worms. Over hundreds of trials, they were taught that each symbol was associated with a different probability of receiving a reward, ranging from 10 to 100 per cent per peck. The crows were given the chance to choose between two options: for example, the green circle with a 90 per cent chance of receiving a reward versus the blue square with a 70 per cent chance. There were no wrong answers, just less optimal ones.

"Both crows pecked on the shapes with the highest probability of yielding them a reward more than seven times out of 10. In a second part of the experiment, shapes with lower probabilities were shown more often. While the crows could have pecked them more times and still gotten the same amount of reward, they still chose the shapes with the higher probability of getting them a treat.

“'They knew that even though it was shown less often it was more valuable,” says Johnston.

"This suggests the crows have the ability to use limited information about the probability of something happening and apply it in a new situation to maximise the possibility of getting a reward, she says.

"When tested a month later, the crows made decisions to peck the shapes with higher or lower probabilities at the same rate. “That’s pretty incredible,” says Johnston.

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"Studies have suggested crows can grasp the concept of zero as a numerical quantity, something most human children don’t learn before around age 3.

"Rakoczy says that, prior to this, such complex numerical abilities were primarily known in primates. This not only highlights how brains can be very physiologically different and still carry out similarly complex reasoning, but also how the latter has cropped up independently in completely different branches of the evolutionary tree, he says."

Comment: more of the same. The crows' neurons are programmed to handle this.