Geometric rule learning by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana).
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.
Kamil
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AC
School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln 68588-0118, USA. akamil@unlserve.unl.edu
Jones
J E
JE
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D001717:Birds; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000502:physiology; D007858:Learning; D008433:Mathematics; D011897:Random Allocation; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology