Pigeons (Columba livia) know when they will need hints: prospective metacognition for reference memory?

Area of Science:

• Cognitive science
• Animal behavior
• Comparative psychology

Background:

• Avian species exhibit advanced cognitive skills but show limited metacognition compared to mammals.
• Traditional tasks may overtax birds' working memory, hindering metacognitive assessment.
• A novel sequence learning task was employed to investigate metacognition in pigeons with reduced working memory demands.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if pigeons can regulate their behavior based on their knowledge levels.
• To assess metacognitive abilities in pigeons using a reference memory task.
• To explore if pigeons monitor their knowledge states before task engagement.

Main Methods:

• Pigeons were presented with familiar and novel three-item sequences.
• In test sessions, pigeons chose between trials with or without a hint.
• Hinted trials offered lower primary reinforcement rates to incentivize informed choices.

Main Results:

• Pigeons preferentially selected hinted trials before novel sequences over familiar ones.
• This preference emerged significantly in the initial sessions across two tests.
• One pigeon demonstrated robust metacognitive behavior from the outset.

Conclusions:

• Pigeons demonstrate the capacity to monitor their knowledge states.
• This monitoring influences their behavioral choices, particularly with novel information.
• Findings suggest a more sophisticated level of metacognition in birds than previously indicated.