Crows are able to understand the concept of recursion

science progress (2022). DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abq3356″ width=”800″ height=”529″/>

Hierarchical arrangement of arc stimuli. (a) Following procedures similar to Experiment 1, two new menus were introduced to train until the standard was reached. Again, transformation experiments consisting of a unique pair of brackets were presented from each of the training lists. (b) The correct responses embedded in the center with the pair can be arranged in two different ways. In Experiment 1, there was no difference in ranking. In this experiment, the test pairs were composed of the outer pair from List 1 and the inner pair from List 2. Crows largely preferred to respond in a pairwise fashion from outside to inside when producing center fused sequences. attributed to him: science progress (2022). DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abq3356

Researchers at the University of Tübingen found through experiments that crows are able to understand the concept of recursion. In their paper published in the magazine science progressDiana Liao, Katharina Brecht, Melissa Johnston and Andreas Nieder described their experiences with crows and what they learned.

For many years, scientists believed that humans were the only animals capable of understanding the concept of recursion, where structures with meaning are integral to other structures. An example is “The mouse chased by the cat ran.” In this example, the words “cat chase” were included in the last sentence or judgment on. But two years ago, a team of researchers conducted experiments that showed that some types of monkeys Able to understand the idea of repetition on an equal footing with children aged three to four years.

In this new effort, the research team conducted similar experiments with crows that showed that they, too, have the cognitive ability to make sense of repetition.

The experiments conducted by both teams included training Test subjects To select parentheses pairs in a sentence made up of symbols – choose the parentheses in the {()} sentence, eg. Once the crows came up with the idea, the researchers then created longer sentences to see if the test subjects could still choose which sentences were included. As with monkeys, the researchers found that test subjects could pick out letters embedded with numbers larger than chance would allow.

In this new effort, the researchers, citing a problem with a previous test on monkeys, added more complexity to ensure that the test subjects did not simply memorize the order in which the symbols were presented. They added another Letterallowing for sentences like {[()]}. Doing so didn’t slow the crows down. They were just as proficient as they were with the original character set. The researchers noticed something else – the crows were able to pick out the characters included without the additional training most monkeys need.

more information:
Diana A. Liao et al., Recursive sequencing generation in crows, science progress (2022). DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abq3356

the quote: Crows are able to understand the concept of recursion (2022, November 3) Retrieved November 3, 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-11-crows-concept-recursion.html

This document is subject to copyright. Notwithstanding any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for informational purposes only.