Cognitive Phenotypes and the Evolution of Animal Decisions

Mendelson, Tamra C.; Fitzpatrick, Courtney L.; Hauber, Márk E.; Pence, Charles H.; Rodrı́guez, Rafael L.; Safran, Rebecca J.; Stern, Caitlin A.; Stevens, Jeffrey R.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2016.08.008

Cited by 42 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…2d). The choice of these vocalizations allowed us to test whether (potential) differences in IEG activation may be due to differences between acoustic similarities or the specific content (species-identity) of the playback stimuli [Mendelson et al, 2016].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-Specific Auditory Forebrain Responses to Non-Learned Vocalizations in Juvenile Blackbirds

Lynch

Louder²,

Hauber³

2018

Brain Behav Evol

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Species recognition mediates the association of individuals with conspecifics. Learned cues often facilitate species recognition via early social experience with parents and siblings. Yet, in some songbirds, the production of species-typical vocalizations develops in the absence of early social experiences. Here, we investigate the auditory-evoked neural responses of juvenile red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus), a nonparasitic (parental) species within the Icterid family and contrast these results with a closely related Icterid parasitic species that lacks parental care, the brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater). We demonstrate that immediate early gene (IEG) activity in the caudomedial mesopallium (CMM) is selectively evoked in response to conspecific non-learned vocalizations in comparison to 2 types of heterospecific non-learned vocalizations, independent of the acoustic similarity patterns between the playback stimuli. This pattern, however, was not detected in the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM). Because the red-winged blackbird is a parental species, the conspecific non-learned vocalization is presumably a familiar sound to the juvenile red-winged blackbird, whereas the heterospecific non-learned vocalizations are novel. We contrast results reported here with our recent demonstration of selective IEG induction in response to non-learned conspecific vocalizations in juvenile parasitic brown-headed cowbirds, in which conspecific non-learned vocalizations are presumably novel. In this case, selective IEG induction from conspecific non-learned vocalization occurred within NCM but not within CMM. By comparing closely related species with stark differences in the early exposure to conspecifics, we demonstrate that CMM and NCM respond to familiar vs. novel non-learned vocalizations in a manner that parallel previously reported regional responses to learned vocalizations such as conspecific songs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-Specific Auditory Forebrain Responses to Non-Learned Vocalizations in Juvenile Blackbirds

Lynch

Louder²,

Hauber³

2018

Brain Behav Evol

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“…Psychology is an older and better‐developed discipline than animal behavior and several scientists studying animal behavior have argued that psychology offers a conceptual framework and set of definitions that ethologists would do well to employ (Blumstein and Bouskila , Mendelson et al. ). Here we propose that the framework used by psychologists can inform the nascent field of plant behavior.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Animal behaviorists who have looked to human psychology for transferrable insights have proposed splitting the processes that produce the emergent properties we think of as behavior into several identifiable (if not discrete) steps (Blumstein and Bouskila , Mendelson et al. ). They have argued convincingly that treating the link between acquiring information and actions based on that information as a black box obscures the processes involved and leads to imprecise thinking (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(B) The judgment and decision‐making model developed by psychologists that has recently been applied to animal behavior (Blumstein and Bouskila , Mendelson et al. ). This model breaks the cognitive process into two distinct steps: judgment that requires perception of information and decision that translates that judgment into action.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to this broad benefit, by helping us focus on the unique processes of judgment and decision making, this framework highlights areas where selection may (or may not) guide plant evolution, providing a clear focus for future studies (just as the framework does for animal studies; Mendelson et al. ). Finally, by helping us appreciate the similarities and differences in how plants and animals make judgments and decisions, the JDM framework facilitates additional novel study opportunities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A judgment and decision‐making model for plant behavior

Karban

Orrock

2018

Ecology

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Recently plant biologists have documented that plants, like animals, engage in many activities that can be considered as behaviors, although plant biologists currently lack a conceptual framework to understand these processes. Borrowing the well-established framework developed by psychologists, we propose that plant behaviors can be constructively modeled by identifying four distinct components: (1) a cue or stimulus that provides information, (2) a judgment whereby the plant perceives and processes this informative cue, (3) a decision whereby the plant chooses among several options based on their relative costs and benefits, and (4) action. Judgment for plants can be determined empirically by monitoring signaling associated with electrical, calcium, or hormonal fluxes. Decision-making can be evaluated empirically by monitoring gene expression or differential allocation of resources. We provide examples of the utility of this judgment and decision-making framework by considering cases in which plants either successfully or unsuccessfully induced resistance against attacking herbivores. Separating judgment from decision-making suggests new analytical paradigms (i.e., Bayesian methods for judgment and economic utility models for decision-making). Following this framework, we propose an experimental approach to plant behavior that explicitly manipulates the stimuli provided to plants, uses plants that vary in sensory abilities, and examines how environmental context affects plant responses. The concepts and approaches that follow from the judgment and decision-making framework can shape how we study and understand plant-herbivore interactions, biological invasions, plant responses to climate change, and the susceptibility of plants to evolutionary traps.

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On the Logic of Animal Umwelten: The Animal Subjective Present and Zoosemiotics of Choice and Learning

Kull

2018

Biosemiotics

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Cognitive Phenotypes and the Evolution of Animal Decisions

Cited by 42 publications

References 45 publications

Species-Specific Auditory Forebrain Responses to Non-Learned Vocalizations in Juvenile Blackbirds

Species-Specific Auditory Forebrain Responses to Non-Learned Vocalizations in Juvenile Blackbirds

A judgment and decision‐making model for plant behavior

On the Logic of Animal Umwelten: The Animal Subjective Present and Zoosemiotics of Choice and Learning

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