Review
Biology
Andrew B. Barron, Marta Halina, Colin Klein
Summary: The evolutionary history of animal cognition involves major transitions that opened up new possibilities for cognitive abilities. This article reviews and compares different explanations of these transitions. It argues that an important aspect of an evolutionary transition is that it changes what can be evolved, leading to differences in phenotypic spaces before and after the transition. The article proposes a framework for understanding cognitive evolution that focuses on how selection acts on the computational architecture of nervous systems.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Gaelle Botton-Amiot, Pedro Martinez, Simon G. Sprecher
Summary: Sea anemones without centralized nervous systems can still form associative memories, as shown by their conditioned response to light and electric shock. These findings shed light on cnidarian behavior and raise fundamental questions about the origin and evolution of cognition in brainless animals.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Kenna D. S. Lehmann, Fiona G. Shogren, Mariah Fallick, James Colton Watts, Daniel Schoenberg, Daniel D. Wiegmann, Verner P. Bingman, Eileen A. Hebets
Summary: It is challenging to measure animal intelligence, but scientists often look for evidence of common cognitive abilities. Amblypygids, although good learners, showed limited ability in learning higher-order concepts such as 'same' and 'different'.
Article
Ecology
Maxime Cauchoix, Gladys Barragan Jason, Arnauld Biganzoli, Jerome Briot, Vincent Guiraud, Nory El Ksabi, David Lieure, Julie Morand-Ferron, Alexis S. Chaine
Summary: Understanding the ecology and evolution of personality and cognition requires the development of new tools to measure individual and species differences in behavioural and cognitive performances in wild populations. This study presents an RFID-based feeder (OpenFeeder) designed to run visual cognitive tasks in wild animals, demonstrating its flexibility and repeatability in assessing associative learning in three passerine species. The open-source design, firmware, and software of the OpenFeeder facilitate its use in a wide range of species, encouraging collaboration among cognitive ecologists and comparative psychologists.
METHODS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Damiem Rolon-Merette, Thadde Rolon-Merette, Sylvain Chartier
Summary: A multilayered bidirectional associative memory neural network, composed of a Multi-Feature extracting bidirectional associative memory (MF) and a modified Bidirectional Associative Memory (BAM), is proposed. The MF generates feature patterns from the original inputs, which are learned by the BAM. Experimental results show that the model can consistently learn various nonlinear tasks and the degree of nonlinearity in decision boundaries can be adjusted by manipulating network parameters.
Article
Mechanics
Pietro Zanin, Nestor Caticha
Summary: We study the interaction of agents with associative memory neural networks trained with the same memory patterns and possibly different dreaming periods. Using replica methods, we obtain a phase diagram showing different phases of interaction between the agents. The model includes phases such as student-professor phase, mutualism phase, indifferent phase, insufficient phase, and reinforced delusion phase.
JOURNAL OF STATISTICAL MECHANICS-THEORY AND EXPERIMENT
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Benjamin J. Ashton, Alex Thornton, Elizabeth M. Speechley, Amanda R. Ridley
Summary: Recent research has explored the potential biases in studies of animal behavior and cognition caused by trappability and self-selection. This study investigated if these biases exist in a series of associative learning experiments on Western Australian magpies, finding no evidence of self-selection and no effect of trappability on cognitive performance.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Sharmaine L. Miller, Faith Leri, Alisha Pushinsky, Becca Franks, Cairsty Depasquale, Victoria. A. Braithwaite
Summary: Zebrafish can distinguish between two human caretakers by associating specific humans with husbandry tasks, particularly feeding. However, it is unclear what visual cues were utilized as caretaker faces were not presented in isolation. Further research is needed to assess the repeatability of these results, as this research is novel in the context of captive fish welfare.
APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
ChuChu Lu, Agnieszka Gudowska, Joanna Rutkowska
Summary: The learning process in birds, particularly in species like pigeons, parrots, chickens, and crows, has been extensively studied. However, zebra finches have recently gained attention as a model species for avian cognition, specifically in song learning. This systematic review focuses on cognitive studies related to spatial, associative, and social learning in zebra finches. The review highlights the lack of research on motoric learning and inhibitory control and emphasizes the importance of studying cognitive development during the critical juvenile period.
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Grace Blackburn, Ethan Broom, Benjamin J. Ashton, Alex Thornton, Amanda R. Ridley
Summary: This study reveals the negative influence of heat stress on cognitive performance in wild animals, drawing attention to the potential cognitive consequences of rising temperatures.
Review
Neurosciences
Victoria N. Alexander
Summary: This paper explores the possibility of irrational cognition in aneural cells and discusses three examples of irrational learning in such cells. It suggests that aneural cells may use semiotic qualities to overcome old algorithms and find creative solutions.
JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-LONDON
(2023)
Article
Entomology
Jai A. Denton, Ivan Koludarov, Michele Thompson, Jaroslaw Bryk, Mariana Velasque
Summary: Global scientific literacy can be enhanced through researchers' engagement with the community, with honeybees proposed as a tool for public engagement due to their cognitive abilities and ease of cultivation. High school students showed that caffeine, but not dopamine, improved honeybee learning, demonstrating the potential for hands-on scientific activities to provide educational value and reliable data on stimuli impacts.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Jia Liu, Wenhua Zhang, Fang Liu, Liang Xiao
Summary: In this paper, a new learning paradigm for neural networks based on deep associative learning is proposed, which associates different patterns by modeling their joint distribution. The model optimizes energy function and constructs a Gibbs typological distribution to tackle the challenge of uncomputable probability for sampling. The effectiveness of the proposed learning paradigm is demonstrated through experiments on classification, image transformation, and image change detection.
Article
Psychology
J. David Smith, Brooke N. Jackson, Markie N. Adamczyk, Barbara A. Church
Summary: Researchers have proposed a new paradigm for category learning, finding that conceptual tasks can be suddenly learned through insightful rule discovery, resulting in explicit-declarative knowledge, while perceptual tasks are learned more gradually, producing impoverished declarative knowledge.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY-LEARNING MEMORY AND COGNITION
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Lingfei Mo, Gang Wang, Erhong Long, Mingsong Zhuo
Summary: This paper proposes a supervised learning method for SNNs based on associative learning, using improved STDP rules to strengthen and weaken synaptic connections, and achieves high accuracy in supervised learning classification tasks on IRIS and MNIST datasets.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE
(2022)