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Western Scrub-Jays Anticipate Future Needs Independently of Their Current Motivational State
Open accessAbstract
Planning for the future has been considered to be a uniquely human trait [1-3]. However, recent studies challenge this hypothesis by showing that food-caching Western scrub-jays (Aphelocoma californica) can relate their previous experience as thieves to the possibility of future cache theft by another bird [4], are sensitive to the state of their caches at recovery ([5] and S. De Kort, S.P.C.C., D. Alexis, A.D., and N.S.C., unpublished data), and can plan for tomorrow's breakfast [6]. Although these results suggest that scrub-jays are capable of future planning, the degree to which these birds act independently of their current motivational state is a matter of contention. The Bischof-Köhler hypothesis [1] holds that nonhuman animals cannot anticipate and act toward the satisfaction of a future need not currently experienced or cued by their present motivational state. Using specific satiety to control for the jays' current and future motivational states, here we specifically test this hypothesis by dissociating current and future motivational states. We report that Western scrub-jays anticipate the recovery of their caches, as well as their own future needs, by acting independently of their current motivational state and immediate needs. The fact that the birds act in favor of a future need as opposed to the current one challenges the hypothesis that this ability is unique to humans.
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“both scrub-jays and Eurasian jays appear to plan for future needs that differ from their current motivational states [160,161]”
From Is episodic-like memory like episodic memory? (2024) · cites this paper as [161]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Correia, S. P. C., Dickinson, A., & Clayton, N. S.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Clayton, Nicola S.
- Venue
- Current Biology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2007-05
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 856-861
- ISSN
- 0960-9822 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2004026195
- Cited by
- 258
- References
- 22
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 19 · 2012: 23
- FWCI
- 21.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Current Biology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/D000335/1)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Primate Behavior and Ecology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory Processes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Child and Animal Learning Development
- Keywords
- western scrub-jay, Aphelocoma californica, future planning, food caching, cache recovery, motivational states, satiety, animal cognition
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Appetite, Cues, Feeding Behavior, Humans, Motivation, Time Perception, Passeriformes
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