Intelligence, once thought to be exclusive to humans and primates, has surprisingly been found in crows.
Recent research reveals that certain species of crows possess the ability to utilize statistical reasoning to solve problems.
Crows demonstrate statistical reasoning to make decisions. (Image: Getty).
Statistical reasoning, in this context, refers to applying past experiences regarding choices to influence the likelihood of making that choice again.
In humans, this can be described as choosing a particular restaurant over another based on its busyness and different time slots.
To reach this conclusion, researchers at the University of Tübingen in Germany trained two carrion crows to peck at a touchscreen.
The screen displayed 9 different squares, each representing the probability of receiving a reward ranging from 10% to 90%. That is, when a crow pecked at a square that indicated a reward, it would be fed.
“We introduced the concept of probability, as not every tap on the image would lead to a reward,” said Dr. Melissa Johnston, the lead author of the study.
Description of the experiment conducted by the research team from the University of Tübingen, Germany. (Image: Science Direct).
Through this experiment, the research team found that the crows truly understood the connection between the images on the screen and their ability to receive rewards.
The experiment was conducted after 10 days of training. After this period, the researchers observed that the two crows had become “smarter”, as they learned to use statistical reasoning to increase their chances of receiving rewards.
Their reward rate reached 76%, significantly higher than in the initial days, where the probability was around 20%.
They even remembered images associated with rewards and made accurate selections after the positions of the images were changed.
Before this capability was demonstrated in crows, giraffes were also known to make some decisions based on statistical reasoning, despite having relatively small brains.
