Cognitive Adaptations for Tool-Related Behavior in New Caledonian Crows

Abstract

New Caledonian crows, spiders, and robots use and can construct objects outside their own body (“tools”) to act on the outside world toward some goal. In all cases, each instance of tool making or use is different from previous ones, so that variability in the tasks' needs leads to variations in behavior. Tool use is considered by many to be one of the defining features of advanced intelligence and to have played an important role in, or at least to have been correlated with, the specific features of human evolution. The presence of a strong cultural component opens the possibility that New Caledonian crows may simply be better at advanced forms of social learning than other corvids, rather than being particularly advanced in their cognitive abilities. This chapter explores cognitive adaptations for tool-related behavior in New Caledonian crows.