Comparative Studies of Avian Cognition

我的研究项目旨在了解复杂认知能力的进化。我研究的一个基本认知过程是空间认知——在环境中有效移动的能力——这是所有可移动生物的重要能力。我和我的研究团队用比较的方法来研究生活在不同环境、不同生态压力下的动物如何解决记住它们从哪里来、需要去哪里的问题。我提出了两条新的研究路线，重点研究鸟类如何利用空间信息来重新获得方向感（重新定向）。一条研究路线将使用受控的养育条件来了解早期生活环境经历如何塑造空间线索的编码方式。我的研究将确定鸟类幼鸟成熟期的持续时间差异是否会导致一些物种（雏鸟）与空间模块“预先编程”，而另一些物种（鸽子）则更多地受到饲养环境的影响。第二项相关研究将研究生态压力如何影响鸟类从环境中提取空间信息的方式。我和我的HQP将研究四种北美鳕鱼，它们在食物充足的时候（秋天）储存食物，在食物匮乏的时候（冬天）储存食物，但它们对这些食物储存的依赖程度不同。对食物贮藏的依赖不仅会影响物种如何衡量空间信息，还会影响它们对空间线索可靠性的敏感性。

My research program aims to understand the evolution of complex cognitive abilities. One fundamental cognitive process I investigate is spatial cognition – the ability to locomote effectively through an environment – an important ability for all mobile organisms. My research team and I use a comparative approach to investigate how animals living in different environments, with diverse ecological pressures, solve the problem of remembering from whence they have come, and where they need to go. I have proposed two new lines of research focusing on how birds use spatial information to regain a sense of direction (reorientation). One research line will used controlled rearing conditions to understand how early life environmental experiences shape how spatial cues are encoded. My research will determine if duration differences in the juvenile maturation periods of birds cause some species (chicks) to come “preprogrammed” with spatial modules whereas others (pigeons) are more influenced by their rearing environment. A second related research line will examine how ecological pressures influence the way birds extract spatial information from their environment. My HQP and I will examine four species of North American corvid that store food in times of plenty (autumn) for periods of scarcity (winter), but differ in how dependent they are on these food caches. Dependency on food-caches may influence not only how species weigh spatial information, but also their sensitivity to the reliability of spatial cues.