Abstract String-pulling is one of the most widely used paradigms in animal cognition research. We investigated how azure-winged magpies Cyanopica cyanus solve multiple-string problems that they have never encountered before. In Experiment 1, the strings were arranged in parallel, slanted, or crossed to investigate what rules azure-winged magpies use to solve multiple spatial relations of strings. Experiment 2 assessed whether the subjects understood the connection between the string and the bait while taking advantage of broken strings. In Experiment 3, the subjects were confronted with strings of different lengths attached to rewards in order to explore whether the string length, as a proxy for the pulling efficiency or reward distance, was crucial for the birds’ choice of which string to pull. Generally, the birds were successful in tasks where the reward was close to the correct string’s end, and they relied on a “proximity rule” in most cases. The results showed that azure-winged magpies had a partial understanding of the physical principles underlying the string-pulling but were stumped by complex spatial relations. They likely relied on simple strategies such as the proximity rule to solve the tasks. The effects of individual difference and experiential learning on string-pulling performance are also discussed.

中文翻译：

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青翅喜鹊通过对物理认知的部分理解来解决拉线任务

摘要 拉弦是动物认知研究中应用最广泛的范式之一。我们研究了蓝翅喜鹊 Cyanopica cyanus 如何解决它们以前从未遇到过的多弦问题。在实验1中，将弦平行、倾斜或交叉排列，以研究青翅喜鹊用什么规则来解决弦的多个空间关系。实验 2 评估受试者在利用断线的同时是否理解线和诱饵之间的联系。在实验 3 中，受试者面对与奖励相连的不同长度的绳子，以探索绳子长度作为拉动效率或奖励距离的代理，对于鸟类选择拉哪条绳子至关重要。一般来说，鸟类在奖励接近正确字符串末端的任务中取得了成功，并且在大多数情况下它们依赖于“邻近规则”。结果表明，蓝翅喜鹊对拉线背后的物理原理有部分理解，但被复杂的空间关系难住了。他们可能依靠简单的策略（例如邻近规则）来解决任务。还讨论了个体差异和体验式学习对拉弦性能的影响。他们可能依靠简单的策略（例如邻近规则）来解决任务。还讨论了个体差异和体验式学习对拉弦性能的影响。他们可能依靠简单的策略（例如邻近规则）来解决任务。还讨论了个体差异和体验式学习对拉弦性能的影响。