Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, 10 Library Way, Durham, NH 03824, USA.
Anim Cogn. 2013 Jul;16(4):583-97. doi: 10.1007/s10071-013-0595-1. Epub 2013 Jan 22.
We examined inferential reasoning by exclusion in the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) using two-way object-choice procedures. While other social scatter-hoarding corvids appear capable of engaging in inferential reasoning, it remains unclear if the relatively less social nutcracker is able to do so. In an initial experiment, food was hidden in one of two opaque containers. All of the birds immediately selected the baited container when shown only the empty container during testing. We subsequently examined the nutcrackers in two follow-up experiments using a task that may have been less likely to be solved by associative processes. The birds were trained that two distinctive objects were always found hidden in opaque containers that were always positioned at the same two locations. During testing, one of the two objects was found in a transparent "trash bin" and was unavailable. The birds were required to infer that if one of the objects was in the "trash," then the other object should still be available in its hidden location. Five out of six birds were unable to make this inference, suggesting that associative mechanisms likely accounted for our earlier results. However, one bird consistently chose the object that was not seen in the "trash," demonstrating that nutcrackers may have the ability to use inferential reasoning by exclusion to solve inference tasks. The role of scatter hoarding and social organization is discussed as factors in the ability of corvid birds to reason.
我们使用双向物体选择程序，研究了赤腹山雀（Nucifraga columbiana）的排除推理。虽然其他社会性散布贮藏乌鸦似乎能够进行推理，但相对不那么社会化的赤腹山雀是否能够这样做还不清楚。在最初的实验中，食物被藏在两个不透明容器中的一个里。当只给鸟看空容器时，所有的鸟都立即选择了有诱饵的容器。随后，我们在两个后续实验中使用了一项任务来检查赤腹山雀，该任务可能不太可能通过联想过程来解决。这些鸟被训练，两个独特的物体总是被发现在总是放在两个相同位置的不透明容器中。在测试中，两个物体中的一个被发现在透明的“垃圾桶”中且无法获得。这些鸟需要推断，如果一个物体在“垃圾桶”中，那么另一个物体应该仍在其隐藏的位置可用。6 只鸟中有 5 只无法进行这种推断，这表明联想机制可能解释了我们之前的结果。然而，有一只鸟一直选择了不在“垃圾桶”中看到的物体，这表明赤腹山雀可能有能力使用排除推理来解决推理任务。讨论了散布贮藏和社会组织作为乌鸦能够推理的能力的因素。
