Tool use and physical cognition in birds and mammals

@article{Emery2009ToolUA,
  title={Tool use and physical cognition in birds and mammals},
  author={Nathan J. Emery and Nicola S. Clayton},
  journal={Current Opinion in Neurobiology},
  year={2009},
  volume={19},
  pages={27-33}
}
In the wild, chimpanzees are the most prolific and proficient tool users, yet their understanding of tools in the laboratory is surprisingly poor. Although this apparent lack of understanding might be interpreted as a reflection of a general failure of animals to appreciate 'folk physics', recent studies suggest that some non-tool using species perform rather well on such laboratory tasks. In some animals, tool use and manufacture may also engage aspects of planning, but some non-tool using… Expand
View on Elsevier
jennifervonk.com
78 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
3
Background Citations
32
Methods Citations
7
Results Citations
3

Figures and Topics from this paper

78 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Neural Processes Underlying Tool Use in Humans, Macaques, and Corvids
TLDR
A possible neural network for tool use in macaques is suggested and it is hoped this might inspire research to discover a similar brain network in corvids and establish a framework to elucidate the neural mechanisms that supported the convergent evolution of toolUse in birds and mammals. Expand
Tool Use in Animals: Insight, imagination and invention: Tool understanding in a non-tool-using corvid
The ability of animals to use tools has tended to represent a hallmark of intelligent behavior; i.e., those species that use tools are thought to be smarter than those species that do not. However,… Expand
Did tool-use evolve with enhanced physical cognitive abilities?
TLDR
It is predicted that the habitually tool-using species, New Caledonian crows and Galápagos woodpecker finches, should outperform their non-tool-using relatives, the small tree finches and the carrion crows in a physical problem but not in general learning tasks. Expand
An Investigation of the Factors Driving Cognition in Darwin's finches
The use and manufacture of tools has been considered to be cognitively demanding and thus a possible evolutionary driving factor of intelligence. Animal tool-use provides the opportunity to… Expand
Rooks perceive support relations similar to six-month-old babies
TLDR
Evidence is presented that rooks hold certain expectations about how objects interact and appear to possess perceptual understanding of support relations similar to that demonstrated by human babies, which is more comprehensive than that of chimpanzees. Expand
Is primate tool use special? Chimpanzee and New Caledonian crow compared
  • W. McGrew
  • Biology, Medicine
  • Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
  • 2013
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is well-known in both nature and captivity as an impressive maker and user of tools, but recently the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) has been championed as… Expand
Evolution of Cognitive Brains: Mammals
TLDR
The number of cortical neurons appears to be a better predictor of intelligence but does not solve the paradox of elephants and cetaceans, which have at least several billion cortical neurons like the great apes, while being less intelligent. Expand
How do adult humans compare with New Caledonian crows in tool selectivity?
TLDR
The results showed that tool selection depended on the stimulus context (i.e., the number and lengths of the alternative tools) and the factors in addition to the candy’s distance influenced the participants’ selections. Expand
T Tool Use
Tools and other utilitarian artifacts pervade humans’ lives. They have played such a pivotal role in theories of human evolution that tool use has traditionally been considered a behavioral indicator… Expand
Primate Social Cognition: Uniquely Primate, Uniquely Social, or Just Unique?
TLDR
The ability of great apes to learn new manual routines by parsing action components may have driven their qualitatively greater social skill, suggesting that strict partition of physical and social cognition is likely to be misleading. Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 71 REFERENCES
Rapid learning of sequential tool use by macaque monkeys
TLDR
Results suggest that macaque monkeys have cognitive abilities, such as flexibility in applying previous experience in accordance with the requirements of the learning situation, and the foresight needed to conduct a series of acts in a continuous sequential manner. Expand
Tool-Use Training in a Species of Rodent: The Emergence of an Optimal Motor Strategy and Functional Understanding
TLDR
It is demonstrated for the first time that rodents can be trained to use tools and suggested that tool use is not a specific faculty resulting from higher intelligence, but is a specific combination of more general cognitive faculties. Expand
Primate Cognition
TLDR
Of special importance, the human primate seems to possess a species-unique set of adaptations for "cultural intelligence," which are broad reaching in their effects on human cognition. Expand
The neural origins and implications of imitation, mirror neurons and tool use
  • A. Iriki
  • Psychology, Medicine
  • Current Opinion in Neurobiology
  • 2006
Several recent studies report how laboratory-raised, non-human primates exposed to tool use can exhibit intelligent behaviors, such as imitation and reference vocal control, that are never seen in… Expand
Investigating Physical Cognition in Rooks, Corvus frugilegus
TLDR
The performance of non-tool-using rooks in a new paradigm, the two-trap tube task, is reported, providing suggestive evidence that rooks are capable of sophisticated physical cognition, if not through an understanding of unobservable forces, perhaps through rule abstraction. Expand
Cognitive abilities related to tool use in the woodpecker finch, Cactospiza pallida
TLDR
One of six woodpecker finches was able to solve the trap tube task, and several individuals modified tools and chose twigs of appropriate length, but there was no evidence that they were able to assess the problems in advance. Expand
Methodological-conceptual problems in the study of chimpanzees’ folk physics: How studies with adult humans can help
TLDR
The similarity of humans’ and chimpanzees’ behavior on these tasks highlights methodological and conceptual problems in studies of chimpanzees' folk physics and suggests alternative explanations for their behavior. Expand
Tool selectivity in a non-primate, the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides)
TLDR
An experiment is presented showing that New Caledonian crows are able to choose tools of the appropriate size for a novel task, without trial-and-error learning. Expand
Chimpanzees fail to plan in an exchange task but succeed in a tool-using procedure
TLDR
The best interpretation for the results is that chimpanzees can plan, however, planning was limited to the situation where the action to attain the future benefit only depended on a chimpanzee's own behavior. Expand
Self-control and tool use in tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella).
TLDR
The results indicate that capuchins are capable of delaying gratification when a higher quality reinforcer is present and that tool experience can influence levels of self-control in this task. Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...