title: Social transmission of tool use and tool manufacture in Goffin cockatoos (Cacatua goffini).
abstract: Tool use can be inherited, or acquired as an individual innovation or by social transmission. Having previously reported individual innovative tool use and manufacture by a Goffin cockatoo, we used the innovator (Figaro, a male) as a demonstrator to investigate social transmission. Twelve Goffins saw either demonstrations by Figaro, or 'ghost' controls where tools and/or food were manipulated using magnets. Subjects observing demonstrations showed greater tool-related performance than ghost controls, with all three males in this group (but not the three females) acquiring tool-using competence. Two of these three males further acquired tool-manufacturing competence. As the actions of successful observers differed from those of the demonstrator, result emulation rather than high-fidelity imitation is the most plausible transmission mechanism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna 1190, Austria Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK alice_bayern@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: A M I
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Auersperg
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse 4, Seewiesen 82319, Germany.
authors.forename: A M I
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: von Bayern
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szabadvari
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Biology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, Vienna 1190, Austria.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bugnyar
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kacelnik
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D046410:Cockatoos / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D012919:Social Behavior; D053001:Tool Use Behavior
keywords: avian cognition; emulation; imitation; social learning; tool manufacture; tool use