A great deal of research suggests that the cognitive abilities of birds in the family Corvidae (crows and jays) are comparable in many aspects to that of apes. Scientists have posited competing hypotheses to explain how complex cognitive abilities arise in a species or group of animals. One such hypothesis, the social-intelligence hypothesis, states that the demands of living in a large, dynamic group drive an animal's need for complex cognitive skills. The ecological-intelligence hypothesis, predicts that generalist foragers develop more highly flexible behaviors and a wider cognitive repertoire than specialist foragers. To date, cognitive research on corvids has focused on corvids that are highly social and are generalist foragers. From a comparative standpoint, I examined the cognitive abilities of a corvid that is relatively asocial and a specialist forager. The Clarks' nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is thought to be perhaps the least social corvid, and it largely specializes on the seeds of one species of pine (Pinus edulis). I tested nutcrackers using several tasks in three broad areas of cognition: inferential reasoning, numerical discrimination, and social intelligence. These experiments represent novel tests of cognitive abilities in this species. I found that the nutcrackers performed in a similar manner as social mammals and corvid birds, in all three areas of cognition. This suggests that social group size may not have a large impact on the development of a broad range of problem solving skills. Rather, ecological pressures associated with finding, extracting, caching and protecting seeds from pilferage may have influenced the development of complex cognition in this species.
","abstract_html":"<p>A great deal of research suggests that the cognitive abilities of birds in the family Corvidae (crows and jays) are comparable in many aspects to that of apes. Scientists have posited competing hypotheses to explain how complex cognitive abilities arise in a species or group of animals. One such hypothesis, the social-intelligence hypothesis, states that the demands of living in a large, dynamic group drive an animal's need for complex cognitive skills. The ecological-intelligence hypothesis, predicts that generalist foragers develop more highly flexible behaviors and a wider cognitive repertoire than specialist foragers. To date, cognitive research on corvids has focused on corvids that are highly social and are generalist foragers. From a comparative standpoint, I examined the cognitive abilities of a corvid that is relatively asocial and a specialist forager. The Clarks' nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is thought to be perhaps the least social corvid, and it largely specializes on the seeds of one species of pine (Pinus edulis). I tested nutcrackers using several tasks in three broad areas of cognition: inferential reasoning, numerical discrimination, and social intelligence. These experiments represent novel tests of cognitive abilities in this species. I found that the nutcrackers performed in a similar manner as social mammals and corvid birds, in all three areas of cognition. This suggests that social group size may not have a large impact on the development of a broad range of problem solving skills. Rather, ecological pressures associated with finding, extracting, caching and protecting seeds from pilferage may have influenced the development of complex cognition in this species.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Tornick, Jan K"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Brett M Gibson"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:22:36Z","subjects":["Psychology","Behavioral Sciences","General","Biology","Zoology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/670","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Brett M Gibson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Tornick, Jan K"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Psychology","Behavioral Sciences","General","Biology","Zoology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/670"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A great deal of research suggests that the cognitive abilities of birds in the family Corvidae (crows and jays) are comparable in many aspects to that of apes. Scientists have posited competing hypotheses to explain how complex cognitive abilities arise in a species or group of animals. One such hypothesis, the social-intelligence hypothesis, states that the demands of living in a large, dynamic group drive an animal's need for complex cognitive skills. The ecological-intelligence hypothesis, predicts that generalist foragers develop more highly flexible behaviors and a wider cognitive repertoire than specialist foragers. To date, cognitive research on corvids has focused on corvids that are highly social and are generalist foragers. From a comparative standpoint, I examined the cognitive abilities of a corvid that is relatively asocial and a specialist forager. The Clarks' nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is thought to be perhaps the least social corvid, and it largely specializes on the seeds of one species of pine (Pinus edulis). I tested nutcrackers using several tasks in three broad areas of cognition: inferential reasoning, numerical discrimination, and social intelligence. These experiments represent novel tests of cognitive abilities in this species. I found that the nutcrackers performed in a similar manner as social mammals and corvid birds, in all three areas of cognition. This suggests that social group size may not have a large impact on the development of a broad range of problem solving skills. Rather, ecological pressures associated with finding, extracting, caching and protecting seeds from pilferage may have influenced the development of complex cognition in this species.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["An investigation of non-spatial cognitive abilities in an asocial corvid, the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Brett M Gibson"],"dc:creator":["Tornick, Jan K"],"dc:description.abstract":["A great deal of research suggests that the cognitive abilities of birds in the family Corvidae (crows and jays) are comparable in many aspects to that of apes. Scientists have posited competing hypotheses to explain how complex cognitive abilities arise in a species or group of animals. One such hypothesis, the social-intelligence hypothesis, states that the demands of living in a large, dynamic group drive an animal's need for complex cognitive skills. The ecological-intelligence hypothesis, predicts that generalist foragers develop more highly flexible behaviors and a wider cognitive repertoire than specialist foragers. To date, cognitive research on corvids has focused on corvids that are highly social and are generalist foragers. From a comparative standpoint, I examined the cognitive abilities of a corvid that is relatively asocial and a specialist forager. The Clarks' nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is thought to be perhaps the least social corvid, and it largely specializes on the seeds of one species of pine (Pinus edulis). I tested nutcrackers using several tasks in three broad areas of cognition: inferential reasoning, numerical discrimination, and social intelligence. These experiments represent novel tests of cognitive abilities in this species. I found that the nutcrackers performed in a similar manner as social mammals and corvid birds, in all three areas of cognition. This suggests that social group size may not have a large impact on the development of a broad range of problem solving skills. Rather, ecological pressures associated with finding, extracting, caching and protecting seeds from pilferage may have influenced the development of complex cognition in this species.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/670"],"dc:subject":["Psychology","Behavioral Sciences","General","Biology","Zoology"],"dc:title":["An investigation of non-spatial cognitive abilities in an asocial corvid, the Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:22:36Z"}