Cognition and reproductive success in cowbirds

AbstractUnderstanding the relationships between cognitive abilities and fitness is integral to an evolutionary study of brain and behavior. However, these relationships are often difficult to measure and detect. Here we draw upon an opportunistic sample of brown-headed cowbird (Molothrus ater) subjects that had two separate research experiences: First, they engaged in a large series of cognitive tests in David Sherry’s Lab in the Advanced Facility for Avian Research (AFAR) at Western University, then subsequently moved to the Field Avian Research Megalab (FARM) at Wilfrid Laurier University where they lived in large breeding flocks in aviaries with other wild-caught cowbirds. Thus, we had extensive measures of cognitive abilities, breeding behavior, and reproductive success for these birds. We report here, for the fist time, the surprisingly strong connections we found among these different measures. Female cowbirds’ spatial cognitive abilities correlated positively with how intensely they were courted by males, and with their overall egg production. Males’ spatial cognition correlated positively with their ability to engage in singing contests (“countersinging”) with other males. In addition, a separate non-spatial cognitive ability correlated positively with the attractiveness of the songs they sung. In sum, these results suggest the cognitive skills assessed in the lab were strongly connected to breeding behavior and reproductive success. Moreover, since certain cognitive abilities related to different aspects of breeding success, it suggests that cognitive modules may have specialized adaptive value, but also that these specialized skills may interact and influence fitness in surprising ways.

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Reading and cognitive abilities: Longitudinal studies of brain and behavior changes in young children

Annals of Dyslexia ◽

10.1007/s11881-002-0008-7 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 52 (1) ◽

pp. 99-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Dennis L. Molfese ◽

Victoria J. Molfese ◽

Sasha Key ◽

Arlene Modglin ◽

Spencer Kelley ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Young Children ◽

Longitudinal Studies ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Behavior Changes ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior

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Bridging brain and cognition: A multilayer network analysis of brain structural covariance and general intelligence in a developmental sample of struggling learners

10.1101/2020.11.15.383869 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ivan L. Simpson-Kent ◽

Eiko I. Fried ◽

Danyal Akarca ◽

Silvana Mareva ◽

Edward T. Bullmore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Network Models ◽

General Intelligence ◽

Struggling Learners ◽

Structural Covariance ◽

Detection Algorithms ◽

Partial Correlations ◽

Clique Percolation ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior

ABSTRACTNetwork analytic methods that are ubiquitous in other areas, such as systems neuroscience, have recently been used to test network theories in psychology, including intelligence research. The network or mutualism theory of intelligence proposes that the statistical associations among cognitive abilities (e.g. specific abilities such as vocabulary or memory) stem from causal relations among them throughout development. In this study, we used network models (specifically LASSO) of cognitive abilities and brain structural covariance (grey and white matter) to simultaneously model brain-behavior relationships essential for general intelligence in a large (behavioral, N=805; cortical volume, N=246; fractional anisotropy, N=165), developmental (ages 5-18) cohort of struggling learners (CALM). We found that mostly positive, small partial correlations pervade both our cognitive and neural networks. Moreover, calculating node centrality (absolute strength and bridge strength) and using two separate community detection algorithms (Walktrap and Clique Percolation), we found convergent evidence that subsets of both cognitive and neural nodes play an intermediary role between brain and behavior. We discuss implications and possible avenues for future studies.

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The Impacts of Video Games on Cognition (and How the Government Can Guide the Industry)

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1177/2372732215601121 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 101-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

C. Shawn Green ◽

Aaron R. Seitz

Keyword(s):

Video Games ◽

Video Game ◽

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Cognitive Skills ◽

Large Scale ◽

Positive Impact ◽

Human Cognition ◽

Video Gaming ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

The Government

Video game play has become a pervasive part of American culture. The dramatic increase in the popularity of video games has resulted in significant interest in the effects that video gaming may have on the brain and behavior. The scientific research to date indicates that some, but not all, commercial video games do indeed have the potential to cause large-scale changes in a wide variety of aspects of human behavior, including the focus of this review—cognitive abilities. More recent years have seen the rise of a separate form of video games, the so-called “brain games,” or games designed with the explicit goal of enhancing cognitive abilities. Although research on such brain games is still in its infancy, and the results have definitely not been uniformly positive, there is nonetheless reason for continued optimism that custom games can be developed that make a lasting and positive impact on human cognitive skills. Here, we discuss the current state of the scientific literature surrounding video games and human cognition with an emphasis on points critically related to public policy.

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Bridging Brain and Cognition: A Multilayer Network Analysis of Brain Structural Covariance and General Intelligence in a Developmental Sample of Struggling Learners

Journal of Intelligence ◽

10.3390/jintelligence9020032 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 32

Author(s):

Ivan L. Simpson-Kent ◽

Eiko I. Fried ◽

Danyal Akarca ◽

Silvana Mareva ◽

Edward T. Bullmore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Network Models ◽

General Intelligence ◽

Struggling Learners ◽

Structural Covariance ◽

Partial Correlations ◽

Intermediary Role ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior ◽

Brain Behavior

Network analytic methods that are ubiquitous in other areas, such as systems neuroscience, have recently been used to test network theories in psychology, including intelligence research. The network or mutualism theory of intelligence proposes that the statistical associations among cognitive abilities (e.g., specific abilities such as vocabulary or memory) stem from causal relations among them throughout development. In this study, we used network models (specifically LASSO) of cognitive abilities and brain structural covariance (grey and white matter) to simultaneously model brain–behavior relationships essential for general intelligence in a large (behavioral, N = 805; cortical volume, N = 246; fractional anisotropy, N = 165) developmental (ages 5–18) cohort of struggling learners (CALM). We found that mostly positive, small partial correlations pervade our cognitive, neural, and multilayer networks. Moreover, using community detection (Walktrap algorithm) and calculating node centrality (absolute strength and bridge strength), we found convergent evidence that subsets of both cognitive and neural nodes play an intermediary role ‘between’ brain and behavior. We discuss implications and possible avenues for future studies.

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Ucieleśnione sytuacje komunikacyjne w prozie Brunona Schulza

Schulz/Forum ◽

10.26881/sf.2019.13.04 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 47-62

Author(s):

Paweł Tomczok

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Abilities ◽

Cognitive Skills ◽

Point Of View ◽

The Body ◽

Childhood Studies ◽

Value Judgments ◽

Speculative Realism ◽

The Subject ◽

And Behavior

The topic of the paper is the problem of the embodiment of communication in Bruno Schulz’s fiction. According to a number of critics, such as Wojciech Wyskiel, Krzysztof Kłosiński, Włodzimierz Bolecki, and Andrzej Sulikowski, in Schulz’s short stories communication by dialog is hardly present. The author proposes a different approach to the problem, based on a key role of the corporeal conditions of communication. Reading Schulz, one must identify the point of view from which individual texts are written, usually unspecified by some named character (most often the “Father”), but depending on the body which performs various actions or perceives the world in a definite way. Thus, to understand Schulz’s fiction it does not make sense to focus on dialogs, but instead the reader should recognize and analyze a bodily perspective, both sensual and affective, i.e. its strata that are particularly well rooted in the basic cognitive abilities. Next to those sensual and affective perspectives, the narration is also determined by higher cognitive skills, such as memory and the ability to pass value judgments. Still, they do not contribute to one coherent perspective, but rather reveal that the narrational subject of the story has been “patched” or made of various perspectives – the child’s body sees and feels, while the subject that remembers and speaks is definitely an adult. This refers in particular to the “Father” figure, behind which the writer concealed in many passages the experience and behavior of the child. A context for such an interpretation can be found in the works of Jean Piaget from the 1920s, analyzing the child’s animism and polemical against the Cartesian concept of the subject, as well as today’s proposals referring to Graham Harman’s speculative realism and childhood studies. However, the Schulzean model of the child’s metaphysics has little to do with utopia – it is rather an insight in some kind of universal suffering of the matter, as in the case of the panopticon figures which turn out to be embodied cases of misunderstanding. The child’s retreat from the communication with adults also implies many problems. That troubled communication seems to be a condition of deep reception.

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