Clayton Nicola S, Bussey Timothy J, Dickinson Anthony
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, United Kingdom.
Nat Rev Neurosci. 2003 Aug;4(8):685-91. doi: 10.1038/nrn1180.
According to the 'mental time travel hypothesis' animals, unlike humans, cannot mentally travel backwards in time to recollect specific past events (episodic memory) or forwards to anticipate future needs (future planning). Until recently, there was little evidence in animals for either ability. Experiments on memory in food-caching birds, however, question this assumption by showing that western scrub-jays form integrated, flexible, trial-unique memories of what they hid, where and when. Moreover, these birds can adjust their caching behaviour in anticipation of future needs. We suggest that some animals have elements of both episodic-like memory and future planning.
根据“心理时间旅行假说”，与人类不同，动物无法在心理上进行时光回溯以回忆特定的过去事件（情景记忆），也无法在心理上进行时光前瞻以预测未来需求（未来规划）。直到最近，几乎没有证据表明动物具备这两种能力。然而，对食物储存鸟类的记忆实验对这一假设提出了质疑，实验表明西部灌丛鸦对它们所藏食物的种类、地点和时间形成了整合的、灵活的、独一无二的记忆。此外，这些鸟类能够根据对未来需求的预期来调整它们的储存行为。我们认为，一些动物同时具备类似情景记忆和未来规划的要素。
