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Mirror-mediated string-pulling task in Eurasian jays (Garrulus glandarius).

Luigi Baciadonna1,2,3, Francesca M Cornero4, Nicola S Clayton4

  • 1Biological and Experimental Psychology, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK. luigi.baciadonna@gmail.com.

Animal Cognition
|December 16, 2021
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Eurasian jays did not use mirror reflections to solve a string-pulling task, suggesting this task may require more advanced cognitive abilities than previously tested mirror tasks for birds.

Keywords:
Avian cognitionComparative cognitionCorvidsMirror studiesString-pulling

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Area of Science:

  • Animal cognition
  • Avian behavior
  • Comparative psychology

Background:

  • Mirror tasks assess animals' understanding of reflections and their ability to use mirrors instrumentally.
  • Previous studies show corvids and parrots can use mirrors for spatial tasks, but not complex mirror-guided reaching.
  • A mirror-guided reaching task requires a deeper understanding of mirror properties.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if Eurasian jays can perform a mirror-guided reaching task, adapting a primate study paradigm.
  • To determine if corvids understand the correspondence between real objects and their mirror reflections in a reaching task.
  • To assess if this task presents greater cognitive challenges than simpler mirror-mediated spatial locating tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Adapted a mirror-guided reaching task using a horizontal string-pulling paradigm for Eurasian jays.
  • Birds were presented with a food reward and its reflection, needing to pull the correct string.
  • Performance was assessed based on direct viewing versus using reflected visual information.

Main Results:

  • Four Eurasian jays successfully pulled the correct string when viewing the food directly.
  • None of the birds utilized the reflected image of the food to guide their string-pulling actions.
  • The results are inconclusive regarding the birds' understanding of reflection correspondence or potential task-related interference.

Conclusions:

  • The mirror-guided string-pulling task did not elicit the use of reflected information in Eurasian jays.
  • The task's complexity or specific visual-perceptual feedback may hinder performance in this species.
  • Further testing with avian species proficient in instrumental mirror use is recommended to validate the task's cognitive demands.