Biology subjects

Schiestl, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Schiestl, M..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Social influences on delayed gratification in New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays

Self-control underlies goal-directed behaviour in humans and other animals. Delayed gratification - a measure of self-control - requires the ability to tolerate a delay and/or invest more effort to obtain a reward of higher value over one of lower value, such as food or mates. Social context, in particular, the presence of competitors, may influence delayed gratification. We adapted the rotating-tray paradigm, where subjects need to forgo an immediate, lower-quality (i.e. less preferred) reward for a delayed, higher-quality (i.e. more preferred) one, to test social influences on delayed gratification in two corvid species: New Caledonian crows and Eurasian jays. We compared choices for immediate vs. delayed rewards while alone, in the presence of a competitive conspecific and in the presence of a non-competitive conspecific. We found that species differed: jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward than the crows. We also found that jays were more likely to select the immediate, less preferred reward when a competitor or non-competitor was present than when alone, or when a competitor was present compared to a non- competitor, while the crows selected the delayed, highly preferred reward irrespective of social presence. We discuss our findings in relation to species differences in socio-ecological factors (adult sociality and food caching) and wider implications of social influences on self-control.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2022

From Pigs to Silkworms: Cognition and Welfare across 10 Farmed Taxa

Billions of animals across many taxa are extensively farmed, with critical impacts on animal welfare. Societal efforts to reduce animal suffering lack rigorous and systematic approaches that facilitate maximising welfare improvements, such as informed funding allocation decisions. We present a multi-measure, cross-taxa framework for modelling differences in pain, suffering, and related cognition to assess whether certain animals have larger welfare ranges (how well or badly animals can fare). Measures include behavioural flexibility, cognitive sophistication, and general learning. We evaluated 90 empirically detectable proxies for cognition and welfare range (henceforth proxies) in pigs, chickens, carp, salmon, octopus, shrimp, crabs, crayfish, bees, and silkworms. We grouped a subset of proxies into: A) 10 ideal proxies and B) 10 less ideal proxies but with sufficient data for interspecies comparisons. We graded the strength of evidence per proxy across taxa, and constructed a cognition and welfare range profile, with overall judgement scores (ranging from likely no/low confidence to yes/very high confidence). We discuss the implications of comparisons and highlight key avenues for future research. This work is timely, given recent indications of significant political will towards reducing animal suffering, such as the inclusion of cephalopods and decapods in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Bill following a UK government-commissioned research review. Given the novelty and robustness of our review, we believe it sets a new standard for investigating interspecies comparisons of cognition and welfare ranges and helps inform future research. This should help streamline funding allocations and improve the welfare of millions of farmed animals. Graphical/ Visual Abstract and Caption O_FIG_DISPLAY_L [Figure 1] M_FIG_DISPLAY Cognition and welfare in farmed animals - from pigs to silkworms (Free stock images: http://www.pixabay.com) C_FIG_DISPLAY

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2021

Individual repeatability, species differences, and the influence of socio-ecological factors on neophobia in 10 corvid species

Behavioural responses to novelty, including fear and subsequent avoidance of novel stimuli, behaviours referred to as neophobia, determine how animals interact with their environment. Neophobia aids in navigating risk and impacts on adaptability and survival. There is variation within and between individuals and species, however, lack of large-scale, comparative studies critically limits investigation of the socio-ecological drivers of neophobia. In this study, we tested responses to novel objects and food (alongside familiar food) versus a baseline (familiar food alone) in 10 corvid species (241 subjects) across 10 labs worldwide. There were species differences in the latency to touch familiar food in the novel object and food conditions relative to the baseline. Three of seven socio-ecological factors influenced object neophobia: 1) use of urban habitat (vs not), 2) territorial pair vs family group sociality and 3) large vs small flock size (whereas range, caching, hunting live animals, and genus did not); while only flock size influenced food neophobia. We found that, overall, individuals were temporally and contextually repeatable (i.e. consistent) in their novelty responses in all conditions, indicating neophobia is a stable behavioural trait. With this study, we have established a network of corvid researchers, demonstrating potential for further collaboration to explore the evolution of cognition in corvids and other bird species. These novel findings enable us, for the first time in corvids, to identify the socio-ecological correlates of neophobia and grant insight into specific elements that drive higher neophobic responses in this avian family group.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2019

Decision-making flexibility in New Caledonian crows, young children and adult humans in a multi-dimensional tool-use task

The ability to make profitable decisions in natural foraging contexts may be influenced by an additional requirement of tool-use, due to increased levels of relational complexity and additional work-effort imposed by tool-use, compared with simply choosing between an immediate and delayed food item. We examined the flexibility for making the most profitable decisions in a multi-dimensional tool-use task, involving different apparatuses, tools and rewards of varying quality, in 3-5-year-old children, adult humans and tool-making New Caledonian crows (Corvus moneduloides). We also compared our results to previous studies on habitually tool-making orangutans (Pongo abelii) and non-tool-making Goffins cockatoos (Cacatua goffiniana). Adult humans, cockatoos and crows, though not children and orangutans, did not select a tool when it was not necessary, which was the more profitable choice in this situation. Adult humans, orangutans and cockatoos, though not crows and children, were able to refrain from selecting non-functional tools. By contrast, the birds, though not primates tested, struggled to attend to multiple variables - where two apparatuses, two tools and two reward qualities were presented simultaneously - without extended experience. These findings indicate: (1) in a similar manner to humans and orangutans, New Caledonian crows and Goffins cockatoos can flexibly make profitable decisions in some decision-making tool-use tasks, though the birds may struggle when tasks become more complex; (2) children and orangutans may have a bias to use tools in situations where adults and other tool-making species do not.

animal behavior and cognition↗