TY - JOUR
T1 - Geometric rule learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana)
AU - Kamil, Alan C.
AU - Jones, Juli E.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2000/10
Y1 - 2000/10
N2 - Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) were trained to search in a location defined by its geometric relationship to 2 landmarks. Two groups were trained to search at different points along the line connecting the landmarks, and 2 groups were trained to find the 3rd point of a triangle, on the basis of either direction or distance from the landmarks. All groups learned and transferred to new interlandmark distances. However, the constant-distance group learned more slowly, searched less accurately, and showed less transfer than the other 3 groups. When tested with new orientations of the landmarks, the birds tended to follow small but not large rotations. When tested with a single landmark, birds in the half, quarter, and constant-bearing groups searched in the appropriate direction from the landmark, but birds in the distance group did not. These results demonstrate that nutcrackers can learn a variety of geometric principles, that directional information may be weighted more heavily than distance information, and that the birds can use both absolute and relative information about spatial relationships.
AB - Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana) were trained to search in a location defined by its geometric relationship to 2 landmarks. Two groups were trained to search at different points along the line connecting the landmarks, and 2 groups were trained to find the 3rd point of a triangle, on the basis of either direction or distance from the landmarks. All groups learned and transferred to new interlandmark distances. However, the constant-distance group learned more slowly, searched less accurately, and showed less transfer than the other 3 groups. When tested with new orientations of the landmarks, the birds tended to follow small but not large rotations. When tested with a single landmark, birds in the half, quarter, and constant-bearing groups searched in the appropriate direction from the landmark, but birds in the distance group did not. These results demonstrate that nutcrackers can learn a variety of geometric principles, that directional information may be weighted more heavily than distance information, and that the birds can use both absolute and relative information about spatial relationships.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034304676&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0034304676&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/0097-7403.26.4.439
DO - 10.1037/0097-7403.26.4.439
M3 - Article
C2 - 11056884
AN - SCOPUS:0034304676
VL - 26
SP - 439
EP - 453
JO - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes
JF - Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes
SN - 0097-7403
IS - 4
ER -