Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird
Abstract Despite considerable research into the structure of cognition in non-human animal species, there is still much debate as to whether animal cognition is organised as a series of discrete domains or an overarching general cognitive factor. In humans, the existence of general intelligence is w...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2024-07-01
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| Series: | Animal Cognition |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01892-4 |
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| author | Grace Blackburn Benjamin J. Ashton Alex Thornton Holly Hunter Sarah Woodiss-Field Amanda R. Ridley |
| author_facet | Grace Blackburn Benjamin J. Ashton Alex Thornton Holly Hunter Sarah Woodiss-Field Amanda R. Ridley |
| author_sort | Grace Blackburn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Despite considerable research into the structure of cognition in non-human animal species, there is still much debate as to whether animal cognition is organised as a series of discrete domains or an overarching general cognitive factor. In humans, the existence of general intelligence is widely accepted, but less work has been undertaken in animal psychometrics to address this question. The relatively few studies on non-primate animal species that do investigate the structure of cognition rarely include tasks assessing social cognition and focus instead on physical cognitive tasks. In this study, we tested 36 wild Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis) on a battery of three physical (associative learning, spatial memory, and numerical assessment) and one social (observational spatial memory) cognitive task, to investigate if cognition in this species fits a general cognitive factor model, or instead one of separate physical and social cognitive domains. A principal component analysis (PCA) identified two principal components with eigenvalues exceeding 1; a first component onto which all three physical tasks loaded strongly and positively, and a second component onto which only the social task (observational spatial memory) loaded strongly and positively. These findings provide tentative evidence for separate physical and social cognitive domains in this species, and highlight the importance of including tasks assessing both social and physical cognition in cognitive test batteries. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-14b6cad18e09493185f9b641349ba1f0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1435-9456 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-07-01 |
| publisher | Springer |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animal Cognition |
| spelling | doaj-art-14b6cad18e09493185f9b641349ba1f02025-01-26T12:43:48ZengSpringerAnimal Cognition1435-94562024-07-0127111110.1007/s10071-024-01892-4Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild birdGrace Blackburn0Benjamin J. Ashton1Alex Thornton2Holly Hunter3Sarah Woodiss-Field4Amanda R. Ridley5Centre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western AustraliaCentre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western AustraliaCentre for Ecology and Conservation, University of ExeterCentre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western AustraliaCentre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western AustraliaCentre of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Western AustraliaAbstract Despite considerable research into the structure of cognition in non-human animal species, there is still much debate as to whether animal cognition is organised as a series of discrete domains or an overarching general cognitive factor. In humans, the existence of general intelligence is widely accepted, but less work has been undertaken in animal psychometrics to address this question. The relatively few studies on non-primate animal species that do investigate the structure of cognition rarely include tasks assessing social cognition and focus instead on physical cognitive tasks. In this study, we tested 36 wild Western Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen dorsalis) on a battery of three physical (associative learning, spatial memory, and numerical assessment) and one social (observational spatial memory) cognitive task, to investigate if cognition in this species fits a general cognitive factor model, or instead one of separate physical and social cognitive domains. A principal component analysis (PCA) identified two principal components with eigenvalues exceeding 1; a first component onto which all three physical tasks loaded strongly and positively, and a second component onto which only the social task (observational spatial memory) loaded strongly and positively. These findings provide tentative evidence for separate physical and social cognitive domains in this species, and highlight the importance of including tasks assessing both social and physical cognition in cognitive test batteries.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01892-4CognitionGeneral intelligenceMagpiesSocial cognitionWildlife |
| spellingShingle | Grace Blackburn Benjamin J. Ashton Alex Thornton Holly Hunter Sarah Woodiss-Field Amanda R. Ridley Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird Animal Cognition Cognition General intelligence Magpies Social cognition Wildlife |
| title | Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird |
| title_full | Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird |
| title_short | Investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird |
| title_sort | investigating the relationship between physical cognitive tasks and a social cognitive task in a wild bird |
| topic | Cognition General intelligence Magpies Social cognition Wildlife |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-024-01892-4 |
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