How to solve novel problems: the role of associative learning in problem-solving performance in wild great tits Parus major

Abstract

Although problem-solving tasks are frequently used to assess innovative ability, the extent to which problem-solving performance reflects variation in cognitive skills has been rarely formally investigated. Using wild breeding great tits facing a new non-food motivated problem-solving task, we investigated the role of associative learning in finding the solution, compared to multiple other non-cognitive factors. We first examined the role of accuracy (the proportion of contacts made with the opening part of a string-pulling task), neophobia, exploration, activity, age, sex, body condition and participation time on the ability to solve the task. To highlight the effect of associative learning, we then compared accuracy between solvers and non-solvers, before and after the first cue to the solution (i.e., the first time they pulled the string opening the door). We finally compared accuracy over consecutive entrances for solvers. Using 884 observations from 788 great tits tested from 2010 to 2015, we showed that, prior to initial successful entrance, solvers were more accurate and more explorative than non-solvers, and that females were more likely to solve the task than males. The accuracy of solvers, but not of non-solvers, increased significantly after they had the opportunity to associate string pulling with the movement of the door, giving them a first cue to the task solution. The accuracy of solvers also increased over successive entrances. Our results demonstrate that variations in problem-solving performance primarily reflect inherent individual differences in associative learning, and are also to a lesser extent shaped by sex and exploratory behaviour.

Keywords: Accuracy; Cognition; Exploration; Innovation; Learning; Neophobia; Persistence; Personality.

Fig. 1

Schematic diagram of the nest-box, its division into 8 contact areas and the non-food motivated problem-solving task. (A) Nest-box view of the 8 areas bounded by the wooden parts of the nesting box (A roof, B left corner, C right corner, D front, E task, F string, G left side, H right side; birds are considered as interacting with the task when they have a leg or beak contact with E and F), and (B) close-up on the problem-solving task

Fig. 2

Mean (± SE) accuracy (i.e., proportion of task-relevant contacts over all contacts) compared before and after the first movement of the door until the first entrance for solvers, or until the end of the test for non-solvers, in wild great tits (Parus major) faced to a non-food motivated problem-solving task. N = 1207 observations from 560 individuals. The distribution of raw data is presented using violin plots while predicted data from the model are presented in black

Fig. 3

Mean (± SE) accuracy (i.e., proportion of task-relevant contacts over all contacts) prior to successive entrances for solvers, in wild great tits (Parus major) faced to a non-food motivated problem-solving task. N = 442 observations from 231 individuals that entered at least once in 2015 (data not available for the other years). The distribution of raw data is presented using violin plots while predicted data from the model are presented in black