Alright readers, here’s a challenge for you. Check out this youtube clip below of a raven, who is being trained to peck at a yellow bowling pin. He has two choices–peck yellow or peck blue.
If he pecks the correct pin, he receives a bit of food as a reward. If he pecks the incorrect pin, both pins are removed and he gets a brief time out. The pins are then presented again, and he has to make another choice.
Birds are extremely intelligent, as Irene Pepperburg and others have demonstrated. (See my book review here about Pepperburg’s research with the parrot Alex.) They can easily learn simple and complex discriminations. Ravens are some of the smartest of birds. However, I’m not completely convinced that this one has learned yellow and blue yet.
So, what do you think? The bird usually seems pretty certain about his choice. But how well does he know his colors? Does he really understand “pick yellow?” Or are there other factors and rules that are influencing which pin he picks?
Check out the clip, then let me know what you think in the comments section below. I’ll post on Tuesday about what I think, as well as how we need to be careful when teaching behaviors and cues.
(Thank you to the Ark Lady for originally finding this clip.)
Yes, I think the raven eventually learned to pick the yellow pin. I think he was responding to the color (perhaps he saw it as lighter than the blue pin) but I don’t think he understood that it was the color yellow. He seemed at tad confused when three pins were put up, but chose the yellow one (after some hesitation) indicating that he “knew” which one he was choosing for the reward.
My gut reaction is that guy isn’t a very good trainer. He went too fast, had no structure, and used a lot of body language to get the correct choice instead of letting the bird think about it.
I would have done that differently…
I am not certain that the raven actually learned to distinguish the ‘color’ because the trainer always presented the pin with the same hand/arm and mostly presented it in the same positioning.
When doing a trial, I would look to establish the correct choice by using different objects of the same color and not necessarily the same shape.
Also, when training an animal you have to be careful about inadvertently cueing the animal with body movement, presentation, and more diligent about making sure variables are introduced.
Thanks for the link Mary and I am always happy when you drop by. I’ve been a bit remiss about venturing out even though I do have you in my reader!