Technical Innovativeness in the Goffin’s Cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana)

Innovations, new behaviours that promptly appear in a population are important factors contributing to the problem solving abilities of many animals and are widely believed to be closely linked to high-level cognitive processing. In order to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the performances of animals in technical tasks, we should therefore investigate the techniques and strategies underlying their innovative behaviour, especially in species, which are used as models for physical intelligence. Species with so-called general intelligence, showing high flexibility in a broad range of different problem solving tasks can be considered particularly interesting candidates for studying innovative problem solving. In this program, we will use the Goffins cockatoo (Cacatua goffini), an inquisitive generalist with high behavioural plasticity that has previously shown advanced performances in a number of technical problems to study a number of important aspects of innovative behaviour. We will first apply two batteries of tasks to study the influence of individual learning mechanisms as well as individual traits (such as sex, status and personality) on innovation rate and to uncover possible strategies underlying innovation. In this respect we are also specifically interested in whether innovations appear in the animals repertoire while actively seeking solutions to given problems or through accidental discoveries of solutions. Within a second line of research we will proceed to apply innovation tasks requiring advanced physical intelligence that have previously been addressed in adaptive specialists (eg. Habitual tool users). The first will be the hook-bending task, an example of innovative tool manufacture, while the second will be a sequential tool use task, an example of associative tool behaviour. Both tasks have previously been largely applied to species with possible ecological predispositions for handling tools (tool use and/or nest construction), which are lacking in the Goffins cockatoo.

Innovations, new behaviours or inventions that promptly appear in a population of animals are important factors contributing to the problem solving abilities of many species and are widely believed to be closely linked to sophisticated cognitive abilities. In order to understand the performances of animals in technical tasks, we should therefore study the techniques and strategies underlying their innovative behaviour, especially in species, which are used as models for physical intelligence. Species with so-called 'general intelligence', showing high flexibility in a broad range of different problem abilities can be considered particularly interesting candidates for studying such innovative problem solving. In this program, we used the Goffin's cockatoo (Cacatua goffiniana), an inquisitive generalist with high behavioural plasticity that has previously shown advanced performances in a number of experiments to understand a number of important aspects of innovative behaviour. We applied an 'innovation arena (20 small technical problem solving tasks arranged in a semi cycle) to compare performance between wild and captive Goffins and to study the influence of individual learning mechanisms as well as individual traits (such as their sex their social status in a group and their personality) on innovation rate and to uncover possible strategies underlying innovation. We found differences between wild and captive birds only in motivation to participate in our task but not in their innovative abilities. Personality did not seem to affect innovation rate. Within a second line of research, we looked specifically at innovations that required the use of objects as tools. One example was the hook-bending task, a type of innovative tool manufacture and a benchmark test for tool innovation in human psychology while another example was a sequential tool use task, an example of so called "associative tool behaviour" (using more than one tool to achieve a goal). We found that at least some Goffins could flexibly invent the manufacture of two different tools (a straight kind of poking tool out of a bent piece of wire and a bent hook tool out of a straight piece of wire ) depending on the nature of the task they were facing. We also found that Goffins could innovate sequential tool use (using a tool to obtain another tool) in at least three steps e.g. use a large ball to obtain a small stick to obtain a food reward. These place the Goffin in the comparative framework on tool innovation on par with tool using primates and human infants