Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026
14:14
The Innovation Arena: A Method for Comparing Innovative Problem-Solving Across Groups
Published on: May 13, 2022
Cooperative problem solving in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus).
F Péron1, L Rat-Fischer, M Lalot
1Laboratoire d'Ethologie et Cognition Comparées, Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, France. fperon2008@yahoo.fr
Animal Cognition
|March 9, 2011
Summary
African grey parrots demonstrate cooperative problem-solving skills, coordinating actions and acting complementarily. However, they struggled with tasks requiring delayed responses or understanding a partner's perspective, indicating limitations in social cognition.
Area of Science:
- Comparative psychology
- Avian cognition
- Primate social behavior
Background:
- Cooperation is a key trait in human societies and is observed in various animal species, including primates and birds.
- Similar evolutionary pressures may have driven the development of social intelligence in primates and complex cognitive abilities in birds like corvids and parrots.
- Parrots exhibit natural cooperative behaviors such as bi-parental care and mobbing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cooperative problem-solving abilities in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus).
- To explore different levels of behavioral organization in parrots during cooperative tasks with varying temporal and spatial complexity.
Main Methods:
- African grey parrots were subjected to multiple experimental setups designed to assess cooperative problem-solving.
- Tasks varied in temporal and spatial complexity to evaluate behavioral organization between participating parrots.
- Parrots' ability to coordinate actions, adapt to partner presence/absence, and engage in complementary behavior was observed.
Main Results:
- Parrots could act simultaneously in cooperative tasks but often failed at delay tasks, potentially due to a lack of inhibitory motor control.
- They demonstrated the capacity to coordinate actions when adapting to the presence or absence of a partner.
- Parrots showed complementary collaboration to solve tasks but could not adopt the partner's perspective.
Conclusions:
- African grey parrots exhibit a degree of cooperative problem-solving, including coordinated and complementary actions.
- Their performance suggests limitations in tasks requiring inhibitory control and perspective-taking.
- Further research is needed to fully understand the nuances of social cognition and cooperation in parrots.
Related Concept Videos
01:29Problem-Solving
Effective problem-solving consists of two steps: 1. identifying the problem and 2. selecting the appropriate problem-solving strategy (i.e., a plan of action used to find a solution). Humans use four problem-solving strategies:
01:21Cognitive Learning
Cognitive learning is based on purposive behavior, incidental learning, and insight learning.
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
E. C. Tolman's theory of purposive behavior emphasizes that much behavior is goal-directed. He argued that to understand behavior, we must look at the entire sequence of actions leading to a goal. For instance, high school students study hard, not just due to past reinforcement but also to achieve the goal of getting into a good college.
Tolman introduced the idea that behavior is influenced by...
01:27Coping Strategies: Problem Focused
Coping strategies are methods people use to manage, tolerate, or reduce the effects of stressors. These strategies involve both behavioral and psychological actions to handle stressful situations. One common approach is problem-focused coping, which aims to change or eliminate the source of stress rather than merely addressing its consequences. This method involves taking direct action to resolve the issue causing stress.
For example, consider a student who struggles to understand their...
For example, consider a student who struggles to understand their...
01:26Impact: Problem Solving
In an experiment conducted during a Mars mission, a rover propels a projectile with an initial velocity, and the projectile rebounds after colliding with the Martian surface. To ascertain the maximum height attained by the projectile after this collision, the known restitution coefficient and acceleration due to gravity are employed.
By designating the launch point as the origin and utilizing kinematic equations, the vertical component of the projectile's velocity at the point of impact is...
By designating the launch point as the origin and utilizing kinematic equations, the vertical component of the projectile's velocity at the point of impact is...
04:49Robbers Cave
During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension could be...
02:07Conservation of Declining Populations
Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.