Neuroscientist Giorgio Vallortigara from the University of Trento in Italy stated that studying how animals understand numbers can help scientists explore the biological origins of human computational abilities. The ability to consciously produce a specific number of calls based on cues, as demonstrated by the birds in the experiment, is indeed an impressive achievement.
Crows can count their caws. Image Source: John Eveson/Alamy
"Crows are known for their exceptional intelligence and cleverness, and once again we have demonstrated how astonishing their cognitive flexibility is," said Andreas Nieder, an animal physiologist at the University of Tübingen in Germany and one of the authors of the study.
Researchers studied three crows that had been trained to caw in response to commands. Over the following months, these crows were taught to associate visual cues—a screen displaying the numbers 1, 2, 3, or 4—with the corresponding number of caws they should make. The experiment also introduced four auditory cues, each associated with a different number.
During the experiment, the crows stood in front of the screen and received either visual or auditory cues. They were asked to caw the number of times corresponding to the cue and then peck a "key" on the touchscreen upon completion. If they got it right, an automatic feeder dispensed bird food and mealworms as a reward.
The results showed that the crows were mostly accurate. Nieder stated, "Their performance exceeded chance levels, which is significant."
Researchers also noted that the first caw could predict the upcoming number of caws, indicating that the crows had preplanned their cawing sequence. "This suggests that it is indeed a cognitive control process," Nieder remarked.
Vallortigara pointed out that what the crows are doing is not the "true" counting as understood by humans, which requires a symbolic understanding of numbers. However, this could be a precursor to such an ability.
Studies like these open doors to uncovering the neural mechanisms related to counting abilities, unique aspects of how humans understand numbers, and research on cognitive disorders related to numbers.
For more information, refer to the original paper: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl0984
