Abstract
Three whitenecked ravens ( Corvus cryptoleucus ) were tested on a one versus two number-discrimination task. One bird showed a sudden jump in performance from chance levels to over 90 per cent accuracy and subsequently showed good transfer to stimuli of new colours and shapes. One bird gradually reached an average accuracy level of about 75 per cent in over 1000 trials. Testing with novel shapes indicated that the previous discrimination could have been predicted by assuming that the bird had responded to area cues. The third subject reached an average accuracy level of 67 per cent and inspection of response patterns indicated that the bird had made its responses on the basis of both position preference and area cues. The obtained results support an hypothesis that information which is partially related to reward may block acquisition of an abstract concept. Suppression of tendencies to respond on the basis of partially correlated information may be a necessary condition for determination of performance limits in animals or humans.
Published Version
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