Neural Processes Underlying Tool Use in Humans, Macaques, and Corvids

Cabrera-Álvarez, María J.; Clayton, Nicola S.

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.560669

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 119 publications

(186 reference statements)

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“…Moreover, the robot should plan to use multiple tools to achieve a goal. Neurological evidence also supports that different cognitive processes were involved when a human uses a tool compared with separate hand and tool actions ( Cabrera-Álvarez and Clayton, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Robot tool use: A survey

Qin

Brawer²,

Scassellati³

2023

Front. Robot. AI

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Using human tools can significantly benefit robots in many application domains. Such ability would allow robots to solve problems that they were unable to without tools. However, robot tool use is a challenging task. Tool use was initially considered to be the ability that distinguishes human beings from other animals. We identify three skills required for robot tool use: perception, manipulation, and high-level cognition skills. While both general manipulation tasks and tool use tasks require the same level of perception accuracy, there are unique manipulation and cognition challenges in robot tool use. In this survey, we first define robot tool use. The definition highlighted the skills required for robot tool use. The skills coincide with an affordance model which defined a three-way relation between actions, objects, and effects. We also compile a taxonomy of robot tool use with insights from animal tool use literature. Our definition and taxonomy lay a theoretical foundation for future robot tool use studies and also serve as practical guidelines for robot tool use applications. We first categorize tool use based on the context of the task. The contexts are highly similar for the same task (e.g., cutting) in non-causal tool use, while the contexts for causal tool use are diverse. We further categorize causal tool use based on the task complexity suggested in animal tool use studies into single-manipulation tool use and multiple-manipulation tool use. Single-manipulation tool use are sub-categorized based on tool features and prior experiences of tool use. This type of tool may be considered as building blocks of causal tool use. Multiple-manipulation tool use combines these building blocks in different ways. The different combinations categorize multiple-manipulation tool use. Moreover, we identify different skills required in each sub-type in the taxonomy. We then review previous studies on robot tool use based on the taxonomy and describe how the relations are learned in these studies. We conclude with a discussion of the current applications of robot tool use and open questions to address future robot tool use.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Robot tool use: A survey

Qin

Brawer²,

Scassellati³

2023

Front. Robot. AI

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“…In contrast, altricial birds are born immobile with eyes closed, and require extensive parental care for days or weeks until sufficiently mature to survive on their own. Birds showing various degrees of precocial biology have been used in many studies including the ontogeny and evolution of endothermy (van der Vaart et al, 2012 ; Rutz et al, 2018 ; Cabrera-Álvarez and Clayton, 2020 ), adaptive plasticity (Grodzinski and Clayton, 2010 ), flight (Clayton et al, 2007 ; Clayton, 2015 ), and muscle growth (Salomons et al, 2009 ). Perhaps the precocial-altricial gradient is most relevant to biomedical research with respect to endocrine regulation (Kelleher et al, 1962 ; Dinsmoor, 1985 ; Grodzinski and Clayton, 2010 ; Grasman et al, 2011 ; Boonekamp et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Alternative Avian Models For Research In Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the key behavioral aspects upon which research has focused has been the use of tools by corvids (Rutz et al, 2016 , 2018 ). Indeed, the convergent evolution of tool use in birds and mammals has led investigators to explore neural networks in common with both groups of animals (Cabrera-Álvarez and Clayton, 2020 ). Another unusual behavior of corvids is their use of object caching (Grodzinski and Clayton, 2010 ; van der Vaart et al, 2012 ; Jacobs et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Alternative Avian Models For Research In Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the Chicken: Alternative Avian Models for Developmental Physiological Research

Flores-Santin

Burggren

2021

Front. Physiol.

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Biomedical research focusing on physiological, morphological, behavioral, and other aspects of development has long depended upon the chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) as a key animal model that is presumed to be typical of birds and generally applicable to mammals. Yet, the modern chicken in its many forms is the result of artificial selection more intense than almost any other domesticated animal. A consequence of great variation in genotype and phenotype is that some breeds have inherent aberrant physiological and morphological traits that may show up relatively early in development (e.g., hypertension, hyperglycemia, and limb defects in the broiler chickens). While such traits can be useful as models of specific diseases, this high degree of specialization can color general experimental results and affect their translational value. Against this background, in this review we first consider the characteristics that make an animal model attractive for developmental research (e.g., accessibility, ease of rearing, size, fecundity, development rates, genetic variation, etc.). We then explore opportunities presented by the embryo to adult continuum of alternative bird models, including quail, ratites, songbirds, birds of prey, and corvids. We conclude by indicating that expanding developmental studies beyond the chicken model to include additional avian groups will both validate the chicken model as well as potentially identify even more suitable avian models for answering questions applicable to both basic biology and the human condition.

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“…Tool use has a long history in multidisciplinary research as it plays a central role in human evolution and it is rare yet phylogenetically widespread in the animal kingdom (Colbourne et al, 2021; Hunt et al, 2013; Jacobs & Osvath, 2016; Shumaker et al, 2011). Modern views have shifted away from regarding it as necessarily cognitively complex, and instead broadly investigate its mechanism, development, fitness value and phylogeny (Cabrera‐Álvarez & Clayton, 2020; Call, 2013; Colbourne et al, 2021; Fragaszy & Mangalam, 2018; Hunt et al, 2013; Jacobs & Osvath, 2016; Shumaker et al, 2011; von Bayern et al, 2020). Cataloguing what kinds of tools a species uses is an initial step to this end.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tool use and tooling in ravens (Corvus corax): A review and novel observations

Jacobs

Osvath

2022

Ethology

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Corvids are known for their cognitive flexibility, and many have innovated various forms of tool use. Here, we review tool use and tooling in common ravens (Corvus corax) and describe additional observations. In total, they have used tools in 10 submodes and 11 modes. Of these modes, four were observed in captivity only, four in the wild only and three in both contexts. Five of these modes constitute tooling. When they manufactured tools, it was through detachment or subtraction. The purpose of most tool use was apparent, except when they used containers to transport small amounts of food that could be held in their bill and antelingual pouch (estimated to hold at least 16.2 ml). The small number of tool‐using individuals per mode and the lack of detailed descriptions limit further interpretation and generalizability. Nonetheless, ravens are likely customary tool users in three modes and show the capacity for diverse tool use, which should be examined in dedicated future experiments.

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Neural Processes Underlying Tool Use in Humans, Macaques, and Corvids

Cited by 11 publications

References 119 publications

Robot tool use: A survey

Robot tool use: A survey

Beyond the Chicken: Alternative Avian Models for Developmental Physiological Research

Tool use and tooling in ravens (Corvus corax): A review and novel observations

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