Editing Animal cognition (section)

=== Reasoning and problem solving ===

It is clear that animals of quite a range of species are capable of solving problems that appear to require abstract reasoning;<ref>For chimpanzees, see for example {{cite book | first1 = David | last1 = Premack | first2 = Ann James | last2 = Premack | name-list-style = vanc | author-link1 = David Premack | title = [[The Mind of an Ape#Other concepts|The Mind of an Ape]] | oclc = 152413818 | isbn = 978-0-393-30160-1 | date = 1983 | location = New York | publisher = Norton}}</ref>  Wolfgang Köhler's (1917) work with chimpanzees is a famous early example. He observed that chimpanzees did not use trial and error to solve problems such as retrieving bananas hung out of reach. Instead, they behaved in a manner that was "unwaveringly purposeful", spontaneously placing boxes so that they could climb to reach the fruit.<ref name="Köhler_1917" /> Modern research has identified similar behavior in animals usually thought of as much less intelligent, if appropriate pre-training is given.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Pepperberg IM | date = 1999 | title = The Alex Studies: Cognitive and Communicative Abilities of Grey Parrots. | location = Cambridge MA | publisher = Harvard University Press}}</ref> [[Causal Reasoning (Psychology)|Causal reasoning]] has also been observed in rooks and New Caledonian crows.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Tebbich S, Seed AM, Emery NJ, Clayton NS | title = Non-tool-using rooks, Corvus frugilegus, solve the trap-tube problem | journal = Animal Cognition | volume = 10 | issue = 2 | pages = 225–31 | date = April 2007 | pmid = 17171360 | doi = 10.1007/s10071-006-0061-4 | s2cid = 13611664}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Taylor AH, Hunt GR, Medina FS, Gray RD | title = Do new caledonian crows solve physical problems through causal reasoning? | journal = Proceedings. Biological Sciences | volume = 276 | issue = 1655 | pages = 247–54 | date = January 2009 | pmid = 18796393 | pmc = 2674354 | doi = 10.1098/rspb.2008.1107}}</ref>

It has been shown that [[Barbados bullfinch]]es (''Loxigilla barbadensis'') from urbanized areas are better at innovative problem-solving tasks than bullfinches from rural environments, but that they did not differ in colour discrimination learning.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors = Audet JN, Ducatez S, Lefebvre L |year=2015 |title=The town bird and the country bird: problem solving and immunocompetence vary with urbanization |journal=Behavioral Ecology |volume=27 |issue=2 |doi=10.1093/beheco/arv201 |pages=637–644 |doi-access=free}}</ref>