Objective
Western scrub jays hide food for future consumption and rely on memory to recover their food at a later date. However, this behavior can be exploited by other individuals, who may observe Storers hiding food and pilfer their caches later by remembering where the Storers had cached. This proposal will investigate the social strategies and the underlying cognitive processes that mediate food caching by Western scrub jays. Using controlled experimental designs we will investigate which behavioral strategies Starers employ to avoid being pilfered (i.e. cache out of sight of the Observer, block the view of potential pilferers, delay caching, re-cache caches made in the presence of Observers) and how the Observers maximize the chance of successful pilfering (i.e. not only the location but also the content of the cache, and if perishable, the relative time since caching; and be as inconspicuous as possible while observing the Storer). The behavioral complex of food caching, with its emphasis of the role of the Starer and of the Pilferer, will be used to investigate the effects of social context on cognition in birds, combining the strengths of both ethnology and experimental psychology. Such cognitive abilities have been focused on primates, yet the discovery of such abilities in birds, with their smaller brains at absence of a cortex, would have major implications for the evolution of human intelligence.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy primatology
- social sciences sociology anthropology ethnology
- social sciences psychology cognitive psychology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
CB2 3EB Cambridge
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.