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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jun/29/birdbrainy-new-caledonian-crows-make-tools-using-mental-images
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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Birdbrainy: New Caledonian crows make tools using mental images | Birdbrainy: New Caledonian crows make tools using mental images |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| New Caledonian crows use mental pictures to twist twigs into hooks and make other tools, according to a provocative study that suggests the notoriously clever birds pass on successful designs to future generations, a hallmark of culture. | New Caledonian crows use mental pictures to twist twigs into hooks and make other tools, according to a provocative study that suggests the notoriously clever birds pass on successful designs to future generations, a hallmark of culture. |
| “We find evidence for a specific type of emulation we call mental template matching,” co-author Alex Taylor, director of the Language, Cognition and Culture Lab at the University of Auckland, told AFP. | “We find evidence for a specific type of emulation we call mental template matching,” co-author Alex Taylor, director of the Language, Cognition and Culture Lab at the University of Auckland, told AFP. |
| “Put simply, crows can reverse engineer tool designs using only a mental image of that tool.” | “Put simply, crows can reverse engineer tool designs using only a mental image of that tool.” |
| A long-simmering debate among evolutionary biologists asks how much of the crow’s tool-making ability is genetically programmed, and how much is acquired and transmitted through learning and memory. | A long-simmering debate among evolutionary biologists asks how much of the crow’s tool-making ability is genetically programmed, and how much is acquired and transmitted through learning and memory. |
| Crow that bent wire to retrieve food was acting naturally, scientists discover | Crow that bent wire to retrieve food was acting naturally, scientists discover |
| A famous experiment filmed in 2002 featuring “Betty the crow” showed the bird bending a straight piece of wire into a hook in order to retrieve a morsel of meat stuffed in a narrow plastic tube. | A famous experiment filmed in 2002 featuring “Betty the crow” showed the bird bending a straight piece of wire into a hook in order to retrieve a morsel of meat stuffed in a narrow plastic tube. |
| The feat was hailed as proof that the New Caledonian crow could invent new tools on the spot, a rare ability among non-human animals. | The feat was hailed as proof that the New Caledonian crow could invent new tools on the spot, a rare ability among non-human animals. |
| But a study published a dozen years later found that more than a dozen wild-caught crows also broke off small branches and fashioned them into tiny hooks with their beaks, leading some researchers to conclude this ability is at least partly hardwired. | But a study published a dozen years later found that more than a dozen wild-caught crows also broke off small branches and fashioned them into tiny hooks with their beaks, leading some researchers to conclude this ability is at least partly hardwired. |
| To the extent it is learned, there’s a further split: some experts think the birds are mimicking witnessed techniques, and others – including Taylor – say the crows have a more sophisticated approach. | To the extent it is learned, there’s a further split: some experts think the birds are mimicking witnessed techniques, and others – including Taylor – say the crows have a more sophisticated approach. |
| The distinction is comparable to two methods for making a paper plane. | The distinction is comparable to two methods for making a paper plane. |
| “You can follow a list of directions – fold in the middle, then the corners, etc,” Taylor said. | “You can follow a list of directions – fold in the middle, then the corners, etc,” Taylor said. |
| “Or you could have an image in your mind of what you want the airplane to look like at the end, and work to that goal.” | “Or you could have an image in your mind of what you want the airplane to look like at the end, and work to that goal.” |
| To remove lingering ambiguity, Taylor and colleagues captured eight wild crows and trained them to drop variously sized bits of paper into a vending machine in order to retrieve rewards. | To remove lingering ambiguity, Taylor and colleagues captured eight wild crows and trained them to drop variously sized bits of paper into a vending machine in order to retrieve rewards. |
| In the second part of the experiment, the birds – when given large cards – tore them up to create pieces similar in size and shape to those that had earned them goodies. | In the second part of the experiment, the birds – when given large cards – tore them up to create pieces similar in size and shape to those that had earned them goodies. |
| “The crows were able to recreate tool designs without a reference point – there was no tool they could see when making a ‘tool’ from the card,” Taylor said. | “The crows were able to recreate tool designs without a reference point – there was no tool they could see when making a ‘tool’ from the card,” Taylor said. |
| The only way the birds could have reproduced the objects is by having a “mental template of the tool design in their mind.” | The only way the birds could have reproduced the objects is by having a “mental template of the tool design in their mind.” |
| Indeed, New Caledonian crows do not appear to imitate or play close attention to the tool building of other birds in the wild. | Indeed, New Caledonian crows do not appear to imitate or play close attention to the tool building of other birds in the wild. |
| But that does not mean that the tools they design cannot be culturally transmitted, Taylor insisted. | But that does not mean that the tools they design cannot be culturally transmitted, Taylor insisted. |
| “Cumulative cultural evolution is the natural selection of ideas – we copy the best ideas and then modify them,” he explained. | “Cumulative cultural evolution is the natural selection of ideas – we copy the best ideas and then modify them,” he explained. |
| “Some of these modifications work, some don’t, and the best ones are then copied and passed on.” | “Some of these modifications work, some don’t, and the best ones are then copied and passed on.” |
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