The day-night cycle also plays a key role in animal behavior. Photoperiod is so important in regulating behavior such as caching that researchers artificially manipulate the photoperiod for animals in captivity to induce this behavior (Pravosudov et al. Though temperature may influence the timing of these activities, photoperiod provides a more accurate cue and plays a large role in initiating or stopping seasonal behaviors. Annual cycles, in particular, are important for migration, hibernation, caching, mating, and raising young. Time influences an animal's environment over periods ranging from milliseconds to decades. The precise mechanisms enabling such navigation are still under investigation. Birds, reptiles, amphibians, and molluscs have also been shown to orient themselves based on the earth's magnetic field (Lohmann & Lohmann 1993 Figure 4). Honey bees appear to use a sun compass when navigating to their foraging sites (Figure 1). A sun compass is the ability to use the sun's position in the sky to determine direction, accounting for both daily and seasonal changes in the sun's position (Alerstam et al. How do Arctic terns and other migrating species navigate such enormous distances? Many species use something similar to global positioning systems that are based on a sun compass or the earth's magnetic field. Arctic terns ( Sterna paradisaea) travel nearly 80,000 km a year between feeding and mating areas (Egevang et al. Many migrating species navigate over long distances. That is, they take a shortcut, suggesting that they possess a cognitive map of their territory (Menzel et al. Though controversial and difficult to demonstrate, honey bees show some evidence of using cognitive maps when they are physically displaced to a new foraging location, they return home via a direct route. A cognitive map involves a mental map-like representation of the environment. For instance, desert ants ( Cataglyphis spp.) track how far away and in what direction they have traveled from home in order to return home after searching for food (Wehner 2003 Figure 3a).įinally, some animals may use a cognitive map to navigate. At small scales, in which animals navigate around their home territory, they can use dead reckoning, landmarks, and cognitive maps to navigate.ĭead reckoning involves estimating the distance and direction one has traveled. Navigation occurs over different spatial scales, from centimetres to thousands of kilometres, and different mechanisms are used at different scales. Most animal species move about in their habitat, which requires navigating between locations. Here, we explore a sample of the cognitive capacities animals use in their daily lives. Such cognitive capacities include, among others, the ability to navigate through space, account for the passage of time, determine quantity, and remember events and locations. Cognition involves processing information, from sensing the environment to making decisions based on available information. Solving these problems requires cognitive capacities. On a daily basis, animals must find food, avoid predators, and seek shelter. The physical world poses a number of problems for animals to solve. Avoiding pitfalls such as this requires carefully controlling experimental studies and following Lloyd Morgan's canon: accept the simplest explanation for a behavior in favor of a more complex cognitive process. Hans was indeed clever: he was attuned to the subtle subconscious body language of the people around him (Pfungst 1911).Ĭlever Hans taught comparative psychologists an important lesson. Pfungst discovered that when people asked Hans a question, they slightly moved their heads when the correct answer was presented. Oskar Pfungst made careful observations of Hans's behavior and discovered that although Hans could correctly answer questions from a variety of people, he could do so only if the questioner were visible. Although many people were thoroughly convinced of Hans's mathematical prowess, some remained skeptical.
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