Use of a geometric rule or absolute vectors: Landmark use by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana)

Kelly, Debbie M.; Kippenbrock, Sarah; Templeton, Jennifer J.; Kamil, Alan C.

doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2008.02.008

Cited by 25 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…By contrast, in the absence of any featural polarizing cue, chicks efficiently reorient themselves on the basis of the macroscopic layout of surfaces provided by a small rectangular enclosure (Vallortigara et al, 1990). Results with chicks in the rectangular array apparently are in contrast to the hypothesis that avian species rely on vector strategies to reorient by landmarks [pigeons (Cheng, 1990;Spetch et al, 1992;Spetch et al, 1996;Spetch et al, 1997) (see also Cheng et al, 2006), Clark's nutcrackers (Kelly et al, 2008)]. If chicks were able to encode absolute distances and directions from the rewarded site and the surrounding cues, they would be expected to reorient by geometry in the rectangular array of landmarks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

View-based strategy for reorientation by geometry

Pecchia

Vallortígara

2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARYHuman and non-human animals can use geometric information (metric information and left-right discrimination sense) to reorient themselves in an environment. The hypothesis that in so doing they rely on allocentric (map-like) representations has received wide consensus. However, theoretical models suggest that egocentric representations may represent efficient strategies for visuo-spatial navigation. Here, we provide, for the first time, evidence that a view-based strategy is effectively used by animals to reorient themselves in an array of landmarks. Domestic chicks were trained to locate a food-reward in a rectangular array of either four indistinguishable or distinctive pipes. In the key experimental series, the pipes had four openings, only one of which allowed the chicks to access the reward. The direction of the open access relative to the array was either maintained stable or it was changed throughout training. The relative position of the pipes in the array was maintained stable in both training conditions. Chicks reoriented according to configural geometry as long as the open access pointed in the same direction during training but failed when the positions of the openings was changed throughout training. When the correct pipe was characterized by a distinctive featural cue, chicks learnt to locate the reward irrespective of the stability of the direction to openings, indicating that place-navigation was dissociated from non-spatial learning. These findings provide evidence that view-based strategies to reorient by geometry could be used by animals. Supplementary material available online at

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

View-based strategy for reorientation by geometry

Pecchia

Vallortígara

2010

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…B ϭ beacon search; M ϭ middle rule; V ϭ vector search. tances) may have a crucial influence on which strategy is preferentially used (Kelly et al, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

Searching in the middle—Capuchins’ (Cebus apella) and bonobos’ (Pan paniscus) behavior during a spatial search task.

Potì

Kanngießer

Saporiti

et al. 2010

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Behavior Processes

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In this study we show that bonobos and capuchin monkeys can learn to search in the middle of a landmark configuration in a small-scale space. Five bonobos (Pan paniscus) and 2 capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were tested in a series of experiments with the expansion test paradigm. The primates were trained to search in the middle of a 4- or 2-landmark configuration, and were then tested with the same configuration expanded. Neither species searched in the middle of the expanded 4-landmark configuration. When presented with a 2-landmark configuration and a constant or variable inter-landmark training distance, the subjects sometimes searched preferentially in the middle of the expanded configuration. We discuss 2 alternative explanations of the results: extracting a middle rule or averaging between different goal-landmark vectors. In any case, compared to adult humans, primates appear highly constrained in their abilities to search in the middle of a configuration of detached landmarks. We discuss some of the factors that may influence the primates' behavior in this task.

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“…Comparable findings have been obtained in an array of freestanding objects of a similar geometric shape (Kelly et al 2008). Monocular test revealed that both the left and the right eye mediate the activation of a local searching strategy in pigeons when the position of the goal is defined by the shape of the arena (Kelly et al 2008). There is no evidence of separate contribution between the left and the right hemisphere for relational spatial learning in pigeons.…”

Section: Lateralization Of Familiar Landmark-based Navigationmentioning

confidence: 50%

“…Pigeons trained to locate a food reward at the centre of an arena tend to focus their searches at approximately the same distance from the walls in an expansion test (Wilzeck et al 2009). Comparable findings have been obtained in an array of freestanding objects of a similar geometric shape (Kelly et al 2008). Monocular test revealed that both the left and the right eye mediate the activation of a local searching strategy in pigeons when the position of the goal is defined by the shape of the arena (Kelly et al 2008).…”

Section: Lateralization Of Familiar Landmark-based Navigationmentioning

confidence: 56%

Navigating Through an Asymmetrical Brain: Lateralisation and Homing in Pigeon

Pecchia

Gagliardo

Filannino

et al. 2012

Behavioral Lateralization in Vertebrates

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The ability of homing pigeons to find their way back home after displacement has fascinated researchers for more than a century. Pigeons rely on a map-and-compass system to navigate, especially when released from an unfamiliar site. Olfactory cues and the sun's azimuth provide, respectively, primarily a navigational map and compass information to accomplish this task. Magnetic cues provide subsidiary compass information. In addition, pigeons can also rely on a spatial representation of the visual landmarks when navigating over familiar terrains. The neural structures underlying these capabilities have been thoroughly investigated. Taking advantage of the neuroanatomical organisation of the avian brain, several studies have addressed lateralisation (i.e. the functional contribution of the left and the right sides of the brain) of homing behaviour. A survey of the most recent contribution to this topic will be presented, with particular attention to the olfactory system, the visual system and the hippocampus.

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Use of a geometric rule or absolute vectors: Landmark use by Clark's nutcrackers (Nucifraga columbiana)

Cited by 25 publications

References 19 publications

View-based strategy for reorientation by geometry

View-based strategy for reorientation by geometry

Searching in the middle—Capuchins’ (Cebus apella) and bonobos’ (Pan paniscus) behavior during a spatial search task.

Navigating Through an Asymmetrical Brain: Lateralisation and Homing in Pigeon

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