Abstract
Behavioral flexibility, the ability to change behavior when circumstances change based on learning from previous experience, is thought to play an important role in a species ability to successfully adapt to new environments and expand its geographic range. It is alternatively or additionally possible that causal cognition, the ability to understand relationships beyond their statistical covariations, could play a significant role in rapid range expansions via the ability to learn faster: causal cognition could lead to making better predictions about outcomes through exerting more control over events. We aim to determine whether great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus), a species that is rapidly expanding its geographic range, use causal inference and whether this ability relates to their behavioral flexibility (flexibility measured in these individuals by Logan et al. (2019): reversal learning of a color discrimination and solution switching on a puzzle box). Causal cognition was measured using a touchscreen where individuals learned about the relationships between a star, a tone, a clicking noise, and food. They were then tested on their expectations about which of these causes the food to become available. We found that eight grackles showed no evidence of making causal inferences when given the opportunity to intervene on observed events using a touchscreen apparatus, and that performance on the causal cognition task did not correlate with behavioral flexibility measures. This could indicate that our test was inadequate to assess causal cognition. Because of this, we are unable to speculate about the potential role of causal cognition in a species that is rapidly expanding its geographic range. We suggest further exploration of this hypothesis using larger sample sizes and multiple test paradigms.
Highlights
Behavioral flexibility, the ability to change behavior when circumstances change based on learning from previous experience (Mikhalevich et al 2017), is thought to play an important role in a species’ ability to successfully adapt to new environments and expand its geographic range (e.g., Lefebvre et al 1997; Sol and Lefebvre 2000; Sol et al 2002; Sol et al 2005; Griffin and Guez 2014; Chow et al 2016)
It is alternatively or possible that causal cognition, the ability to understand the causality in relationships between events beyond their statistical covariations, could play a significant role in rapid range expansions by allowing one to learn faster and make more accurate predictions about outcomes, as well as by exerting more control over events (Blaisdell et al 2006; Leising et al 2008; Blaisdell and Waldmann 2012)
We predict more food inspection behavior when the grackle intervenes to cause the noise than when they intervene to cause the tone. This result would replicate the finding in rats by Blaisdell et al Our results will indicate whether grackles exhibit causal inference, whether it is related to behavioral flexibility, and whether causal cognition might be worth considering in the context of how a species is able to rapidly expand its geographic range
Summary
Behavioral flexibility, the ability to change behavior when circumstances change based on learning from previous experience (Mikhalevich et al 2017), is thought to play an important role in a species’ ability to successfully adapt to new environments and expand its geographic range (e.g., Lefebvre et al 1997; Sol and Lefebvre 2000; Sol et al 2002; Sol et al 2005; Griffin and Guez 2014; Chow et al 2016). When the tone is produced through the intervention of pecking at the clover, the grackles should NOT expect food This is because, if the grackle formed the common cause model of the star being a common cause of tone and food, when the grackle intervenes to produce the tone, it should attribute the occurrence of that tone to their own causal intervention, and not to the prior cause of the star. We predict more food inspection behavior when the grackle intervenes to cause the noise than when they intervene to cause the tone This result would replicate the finding in rats by Blaisdell et al. Our results will indicate whether grackles exhibit causal inference, whether it is related to behavioral flexibility, and whether causal cognition might be worth considering in the context of how a species is able to rapidly expand its geographic range
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