Are parrots poor at motor self-regulation or is the cylinder task poor at measuring it?

ABSTRACT: The ability to inhibit unproductive motor responses triggered by salient stimuli is a fundamental inhibitory skill. Such motor self-regulation is thought to underlie more complex cognitive mechanisms, like self-control. Recently, a large-scale study, comparing 36 species, found that absolute brain size best predicted competence in motor inhibition, with great apes as the best performers. This was challenged when three Corvus species (corvids) were found to parallel great apes despite having much smaller absolute brain sizes. However, new analyses suggest that it is the number of pallial neurons, and not absolute brain size per se, that correlates with levels of motor inhibition. Both studies used the cylinder task, a detour-reaching test where food is presented behind a transparent barrier

SUBMITTER: Kabadayi C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5640728 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature