What do rooks (Corvus frugilegus) understand about physical contact?

Full Abstract

Rooks (Corvus frugilegus) do not use tools, but rapidly solve tests of physical cognition. The authors tested whether rooks understand the concept of physical contact using a task comprising a clear horizontal tube containing a stick with a disk attached to it and a piece of food. The rooks chose which side to pull the stick from to make the food accessible. Two configurations were used, with either the food or disk central along the tube. All 8 rooks solved the food-central configuration, but failed the disk-central configuration. Although they did not demonstrate an understanding of contact, further tests established that they could learn to solve these tasks provided there were salient stick cues. This result may arise because sticks are ecologically important for rooks.((c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).

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Author information

Author/s: Helme, Anne E (AE); Clayton, Nicola S (NS); Emery, Nathan J (NJ);

Affiliation: Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, High Street, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, United Kingdom.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of comparative psychology (Washington, D.C. : 1983) (J Comp Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Aug; vol 120 (issue 3) : pp 288-93

Dates: Created 2006/08/08; Completed 2006/12/22; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 16893266, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentIn: J Comp Psychol. 2006 Aug;120(3):294-302. (PMID: 16893267)

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