Researchers joined forces to learn more about the roles of flexibility and inhibition in problem solving. They also explored how they relate to one another in a behaviorally adaptable urban bird species, called the great-tailed gratch. Researchers used multiple tests to assess the cognitive abilities of people and found that self-control, which is a form inhibition, was associated with flexibility. This is the ability of an individual to change preferences as the circumstances change.
Self control is tied to behavioral flexibility
Researchers found that grackles that were quicker to reverse a color preference (a standard measure for flexibility) were also more likely to inhibit their behavior during a ‘go-no-go’ test in which they touch one of two shapes on a touchscreen computer to get a reward. This suggests that inhibition is involved when learning to change a preference. Corina Logan, senior researcher at Max Planck Institute For Evolutionary Anthropology and lead author, says that the grackles may be preventing themselves from choosing the previously rewarded option in order to choose the other option.
A newer measure, which is the time it takes for grackles to switch to a new option after they have solved a previous option, was more beneficial. They were less likely to inhibit their behavior during the ‘go-no-go’ test if they were faster to switch. The authors speculate that different birds may use different inhibitory strategies. They might be more inclined to explore all options. However, this would not make it possible for them to stick to one option in certain situations.
Kelsey McCune is a postdoctoral researcher at University of California Santa Barbara. She noticed differences in the strategies used in the ‘go-no-go’ computer test. “It was obvious that some birds were content to be rewarded inconsistently, so they pecked at anything that appeared on the screen. Others, on the other hand, seemed to have learned the task and would simply stare at the screen until the correct shape appeared.
Pay attention to what you call flexibility: it is not tied with motor control
A different inhibition test, called the ‘detour’, requires one to walk around the tube’s side to reach the food. This is to test self control. However, grackles that scored higher on ‘detour” did not perform better on the go no-go self control test. Claudia Wascher, Associate Professor at Anglia Ruskin University, said that the results showed that different tests, commonly called tests of self control, actually assess different cognitive abilities.
The authors conclude that “detour” measures motor inhibition, stopping any movement that won’t be useful, and non self control which is the ability not to respond to something they see but wait for something else.
Computers are used to test wild-caught birds
Two of the tests were conducted with grackles being taught to use computers by the researchers. It turned out that this species is very different than training pigeons or rats to use computers. This was something that Benjamin Seitz, a doctoral student, as well as Aaron Blaisdell (a professor at the University of California Los Angeles), had already extensive experience with.
Grackles are gentler when pecking at the screen and less persistent if it goes wrong. “It’s still amazing that we were capable of getting birds in the wild to interact using these very artificial touchscreens, but the birds were more anxious about using the touchscreens than any other species we’ve tested,” says Seitz, the lead author. The unexpected obstacle led to the team documenting their experiences and publishing a guide for how to train wild-caught birds using touchscreens.
Do they use causal cognition
Blaisdell also created a touchscreen computer test that could be used to determine if grackles use causal cognition in another experiment. It is possible that a successful species, such as the great tailed grackle, uses causal cognition to solve its foraging problems. This ability to infer cause-and-effect could help you solve problems faster and find better solutions. This ability could be useful when they open packages containing food or other problems that can arise in urban environments.
The results were not conclusive due to the fact that the birds didn’t understand the question. Blaisdell notes that the greatest challenge in studying a new species is adapting a procedure that worked for one species, such a rat. This allows you to successfully get ‘inside’ the head of the new species, such a grackle. To determine which setup would be most useful for the grackles, the experimental design would have to be modified.
Where can I go from here?
Learning more about how a flexible animal reacts to changing conditions can help conservation managers plan and assist in promoting flexibility in species that struggle in this rapidly changing environment. These questions are being investigated by the authors through long-term research on grackle.
