Date: October 2, 2017
Source: University of York
Researchers have discovered that
New Caledonian crows and kea parrots can learn about the usefulness of objects
by playing with them -- similar to human baby behaviour.
The study, led by researchers at
the Universities of York and St Andrews, demonstrated that two types of bird
were able to solve tasks more successfully if they had explored the object
involved in the task beforehand.
It has long been thought that
playful exploration allows animals to gather information about their physical
world, in much the same way that human infants learn about their world through
play.
In one of the first direct tests
of this hypothesis, scientists studied two bird species, the New Caledonian
crow and the kea parrot, to understand how they interact with objects before,
during and after a task involving that object.
Dr Katie Slocombe, from the
University of York's Department of Psychology, said: "Both species of bird
are known for exploring objects in different ways. The New Caledonian crow use
objects in the wild and the kea parrot is known for often being destructive in
its play back in its native New Zealand.
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