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Flashcards in animal cognition Deck (49)
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1
Q

basis for intelligent behaviour, overrides reflexive habitual responses for more complex long term goals =

A

cognition

2
Q

what systems does cognition control?

A

sensory, memory, motor

3
Q

what is the key neural structure in mammals related to cognition?

A

prefrontal cortex

4
Q

what are the main features of cognitive abilities and EFs?

A

top down mental processes, require effort/attention

5
Q

what are the 2 different types of cognitive abilities?

A

core vs. higher order

6
Q

what are the core cognitive abilities?

A

working memory, inhibitory control, flexibility

7
Q

being able to react to the same stimulus in different ways depending on the context and rules =

A

flexibility

8
Q

what are the higher order/insight related cognitive abilities?

A

object permanence, self recognition, mental time travel, theory of mind, tool use/causal reasoning

9
Q

concept that there is a hierarchy of things in the world from simple to more complex lifeforms =

A

scala naturae (ladder of being)

mammals have a high place on ladder

10
Q

in evolutionary terms, how distant are birds and mammals from each other?

A

300 years

11
Q

what do birds not have that effects their cognitive abilities?

A

a neocortex

12
Q

the bird brain has a _______ that is similar to primates that is considered to have a simpler function than the neocortex

A

neostriatum

13
Q

in recent models, the neostriatum of birds is now called what?

A

nidopallium

14
Q

what does the nidopallium correspond to in the human brain?

A

the pallium cortex

15
Q

term for grey and white matter covering the cerebrum =

A

pallium

16
Q

nidopallium = ______ pallium

A

nested

17
Q

what does the nidopallium consist of?

A

many sub regions e.g. NCL (nidopallium caudolaterale)

18
Q

despite the structural and organisational differences between the NCL in birds and PFC in mammals, both regions might be what?

A

functionally analogue

19
Q

what is the advantage of animal models?

A

single neuron activity can be measured

20
Q

Birds (crows) can learn ____ and these can be represented on a single cell level in the NCL

A

rules

21
Q

insects (honey bees) can generalise learnt ______ and form __________

A

patterns, cross modal concepts

22
Q

ability to recognise oneself as an individual and to distinguish oneself from the environment and other individuals =

A

self recognition

23
Q

what test in animals looks at self recognition?

A

mirror test (ability to recognise self in mirror)

24
Q

monkeys have been exposed and recognised yellow dot on their forehead. what was found?

A

high variability across individuals, 75% of young adult chimps pass test, linked to monkeys social skills similar to humans

25
Q

what are the different behaviour measures when exposing an animal to a mirror?

A

social behaviour, exploration, contingency testing, mark test

26
Q

what were the different social behaviour and exploratory responses in magpies with the mirror test?

A

aggressive behaviour (mirror image seen as competitor that he wanted to fight), approaching mirror and making movements to see if mirror image reacted the same, exploratory behaviour (looking behind mirror > curious with mirror mechanism)

27
Q

magpie touching the mark area with beak or foot = what type of behaviour?

A

mark directed behaviour

28
Q

magpie touching other parts of body (wings) = what type of behaviour?

A

self directed behaviour

29
Q

how would experimenters find out how much magpie behaviour is directed towards the mark?

A

activity towards ark = mark directed behaviour / total self directed behaviour

30
Q

what controls can be manipulated in the magpie mark test?

A

no mirror present, using black mark instead of yellow

31
Q

what did results show in the magpie mark and mirror test?

A

magpies exhibited significant mark directed behaviour supporting self recognition
(however still lots of individual variation in responses to mirror)

32
Q

what is the evidence for magpies being able to recognise themselves that goes against the ‘cortex is special’ argument?

A

magpies even without a laminated cortex can still recognise themselves so it can’t be that there is something unique about the cortex. birds must have different neural machinery that allows them to do this

33
Q

attribution of one’s own mental state and possible future behaviour of another organism =

A

theory of mind

34
Q

what does theory of mind require?

A

state attribution

35
Q

what is a simple form of state attribution that can be tested in animals?

A

desire states e.g. wanting

36
Q

what is a more complex form of state attribution?

A

attribution of epistemic mental states e.g. knowing/believing

37
Q

how can the properties and mechanisms of theory of mind be understood?

A

studying potential precursors (attributions of desire states) in animals

38
Q

what were the results found in the raven food hiding study and what did they show?

A

bird that observed the raven hiding food recovered 50% of catches compared to blind bird that recovered 25%. means the raven was aware of the knowledge the other bird had as knew was being watched.

39
Q

understanding through sensory perception that objects continue to exist even when they can’t be directly observed =

A

object permanence

40
Q

do we know the neural basis of object permanence?

A

no (likely to be linked to working memory structures)

41
Q

what was showed with crows and object permanence study?

A

crows reach full Piagetian object permanence, show gradual development (similar to human infants)

42
Q

what did comparative studies with dogs and cats show?

A

other animals may get stuck at earlier object permanence stages

43
Q

it is important to consider choice of experimental paradigm when comparing cognitive abilities across species. what should be considered?

A

control conditions, alternative interpretations, different behaviour strategies

44
Q

different brain structures implement similar functions =

A

functionally analogue

45
Q

homologue =

A

common ancestor

46
Q

most single neuron activity is done in what type of animal?

A

rodents

47
Q

describe rodent animal model features

A

similar mammals to humans with cortex, well studied brains, clear and simple to maintain, properties of episodic like memory

48
Q

describe bird animal model features

A

not like us (evolutionary distant), less studied brain, not traditional lab animals, evidence for several forms of insight related cognition, strong role of visual and auditory perception (similar to humans)

49
Q

why are rodents bad models for cognitive ageing compared to birds?

A

rodent lifetime = 1 year in captivity whereas birds lifetime = 30 years (corvids)