The Comparative Psychology of Avian Visual Cognition

Author: Robert G. Cook

Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 9, Number 3, June 2000 , pp. 83-89(7)

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Abstract:

How do small-brained, highly mobile animals like birds so readily perceive the visual world? Despite the computational complexity of vision, recent behavioral tests have suggested that these evolutionarily distant animals may use visual mechanisms that operate in the same manner as the visual mechanisms of primates. This article reviews new evidence regarding the processes of early vision and object perception in pigeons and considers speculations about the similarities and differences between avian and primate visual cognition.

Keywords: pigeon; visual cognition; comparative psychology; texture perception; object perception

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.00066

Affiliations: 1: Department of Psychology, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts

Publication date: 2000-06-01