I See, Therefore I Think - The Role of Observed Realities on Cognition in Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) and African Grey Parrots (Psittacus erithacus)
type: CreativeWork
description: Within the avian order, corvids and psittacines are those for which evidence of complex cognitive abilities abounds, but rarely are the same tasks given to both. One such ability is secondary representation: entertaining mental models of multiple versions of reality. Secondary representation is likely a pre-requisite for several other abilities, including mental time travel, theory of mind, and self-awareness. While evidence of such abilities is found in both families, direct comparisons are lacking. This makes it impossible to judge if their representational abilities are equivalent and likely to underlie these complex abilities. To generate comparative data, two concepts thought to require secondary representation are examined. Firstly, five rooks (Corvus frugilegus) were presented with object permanence (OP) tasks comparable to previous studies with African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Like parrots, one rook also demonstrated full Stage 6b (multiple invisible displacements), including evidence of representation, whereas other individuals ranged between Stage 5a (single visible displacements) and 6a (single invisible displacements). Individual differences, past experiences, and behavioural characteristics are posited to underlie the lower performance of some, especially given existing data in other corvids, which display advanced OP and food caching. Secondly, another ability requiring secondary representation is mirror self-recognition (MSR), but evidence from birds is contested and contradictory: Often, they do not behave consistently with either self-recognition or perceiving a conspecific, or appear to recognise themselves in only some contexts. I posit this to be due to the interference of mirrors on the ultraviolet (UV) portion of light, which birds see and use for mate choice, foraging, and possibly individual recognition. For the first time, two rooks and two African grey parrots were given a series of mirror-stimulation tasks intended to target the…
abstract: Within the avian order, corvids and psittacines are those for which evidence of complex cognitive abilities abounds, but rarely are the same tasks given to both. One such ability is secondary representation: entertaining mental models of multiple versions of reality. Secondary representation is likely a pre-requisite for several other abilities, including mental time travel, theory of mind, and self-awareness. While evidence of such abilities is found in both families, direct comparisons are lacking. This makes it impossible to judge if their representational abilities are equivalent and likely to underlie these complex abilities. To generate comparative data, two concepts thought to require secondary representation are examined. Firstly, five rooks (Corvus frugilegus) were presented with object permanence (OP) tasks comparable to previous studies with African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Like parrots, one rook also demonstrated full Stage 6b (multiple invisible displacements), including evidence of representation, whereas other individuals ranged between Stage 5a (single visible displacements) and 6a (single invisible displacements). Individual differences, past experiences, and behavioural characteristics are posited to underlie the lower performance of some, especially given existing data in other corvids, which display advanced OP and food caching. Secondly, another ability requiring secondary representation is mirror self-recognition (MSR), but evidence from birds is contested and contradictory: Often, they do not behave consistently with either self-recognition or perceiving a conspecific, or appear to recognise themselves in only some contexts. I posit this to be due to the interference of mirrors on the ultraviolet (UV) portion of light, which birds see and use for mate choice, foraging, and possibly individual recognition. For the first time, two rooks and two African grey parrots were given a series of mirror-stimulation tasks intended to target the…
author: Cornero, Francesca
language: eng
keywords: animal cognition, psychology, comparative cognition, birds
license: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/a3f60688-318b-4fa1-9a77-41abcc851d20/download
license: http://purl.org/NET/rdflicense/allrightsreserved
date published: 2025-03-27
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:33:25Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.127523