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. 2012 Dec 31:3:584.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00584. eCollection 2012.

Memory for multiple cache locations and prey quantities in a food-hoarding songbird

Nicola Armstrong  1 , Alexis Garland, K C Burns
Affiliations

Memory for multiple cache locations and prey quantities in a food-hoarding songbird

Nicola Armstrong et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

Most animals can discriminate between pairs of numbers that are each less than four without training. However, North Island robins (Petroica longipes), a food-hoarding songbird endemic to New Zealand, can discriminate between quantities of items as high as eight without training. Here we investigate whether robins are capable of other complex quantity discrimination tasks. We test whether their ability to discriminate between small quantities declines with (1) the number of cache sites containing prey rewards and (2) the length of time separating cache creation and retrieval (retention interval). Results showed that subjects generally performed above-chance expectations. They were equally able to discriminate between different combinations of prey quantities that were hidden from view in 2, 3, and 4 cache sites from between 1, 10, and 60 s. Overall results indicate that North Island robins can process complex quantity information involving more than two discrete quantities of items for up to 1 min long retention intervals without training.

Keywords: New Zealand robin; cache; field experiment; memory; number.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A robin makes his choice by pulling a flap attached to the apparatus and retrieving the contents.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The success rate for each combination of independent variables for the three conditions. Y-axis shows the success rate as a percentage of “correct” choices (i.e., where the largest number of mealworms was selected). X-axis shows number of cache sites with bars grouped according to retention interval (0, 10, and 60 s). Indicates the percentage of successes expected by chance for each cache level. Error bars ± 1 standard error.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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