A test of the intelligence of cephalopods conducted back in 2021 served as
further evidence of the significance of animal intelligence for
humans.
A modified version of the marshmallow test was administered to cuttlefish,
and the findings could show that their peculiar small brains are more
complex than previously thought.
According to the researchers, cuttlefish may have gained an advantage in
the competitive maritime environment they dwell in due to their capacity for
learning and adaptation.
The Stanford marshmallow experiment, sometimes known as the marshmallow test, is a very simple
experiment.
A marshmallow is placed in a room with a youngster. They are informed that
they will receive a second marshmallow and be permitted to eat both if they
can resist eating the first one for fifteen minutes.
It was initially done to investigate how human cognition develops,
especially, at what age a person is smart enough to delay satisfaction if it
meant a better outcome later. This capacity to delay gratification displays
cognitive capacities such as future planning.
It's so easy to modify for animals because of its simplicity. You cannot,
of course, tell an animal that waiting will result in a greater reward, but
you may teach it that better food will be provided if it is not consumed
right immediately.
Like
dogs, certain primates can postpone satisfaction, but not always. The
marshmallow test has been passed by corvids as well.
Additionally, cuttlefish passed an iteration of the marshmallow test in
2020. Researchers discovered that common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) may avoid eating crab meat in the morning if they know that shrimp will
be their dinner of choice.
But as a group of scientists led by the University of Cambridge's Alexandra
Schnell, a behavioral ecologist,
pointed out, in this instance, it was challenging to figure out whether this shift in
foraging behavior in response to the availability of prey was also
controlled by the capacity for self-control.
Thus, they created an additional exam for six common cuttlefish. The
cuttlefish were kept in a unique tank that featured two closed compartments
with see-through walls that allowed the creatures to look inside. There were
refreshments in the chambers, one containing a far more alluring live grass
shrimp and the other a less desirable chunk of raw king prawn.
Additionally, the cuttlefish had been trained to recognize symbols on the
doors. A circle indicated that the door would open immediately. A triangle
indicated that the door will open in ten to one hundred thirty seconds.
Furthermore, if a square was utilized exclusively under the control
condition, the door would remain closed forever.
While the live shrimp was only accessible after a delay, the prawn was
positioned behind the open door in the test condition. The shrimp was taken
out right away if the cuttlefish tried to eat the prawn.
Concurrently, the square-symbol door in the control group remained closed,
making the shrimp unavailable.
The cuttlefish in the test condition all made the decision to wait for
their favorite food—the live shrimp—while the cuttlefish in the control
group—where they were unable to obtain it—did not bother to do the
same.
"Cuttlefish in the present study were all able to wait for the better
reward and tolerated delays for up to 50-130 seconds, which is comparable to
what we see in large-brained vertebrates such as chimpanzees, crows and
parrots,"
Schnell said in 2021.
The six cuttlefish were tested for their ability to learn as the other
component of the experiment. They were presented with a white and a gray
square as two distinct visual signals.
The other would be taken out of the tank as they got closer to one, and if
they chose the "right" one, they would receive a snack.
The researchers changed the cues such that the other square became the
reward cue once the participants had become adept at associating a square
with a reward.
Remarkably, the cuttlefish that were able to wait longer for the shrimp
reward were also the ones that quickly learned to adjust to this
shift.
Yes, it appears that cuttlefish are capable of exercising self control,
although the reason for this is unclear.
Delay in gratification has been associated with tool use (because it
necessitates
planning ahead),
food caching (for obvious reasons), and social competence (because
prosocial behavior, like ensuring everyone has food, benefits social species), among other
traits in species like parrots, primates, and corvids.
As far as we know, cuttlefish are not very sociable, nor do they utilize
tools or hoard food. The capacity to postpone satisfaction, according to the
researchers, may instead be related to how cuttlefish scavenge for
food.
"Cuttlefish spend most of their time camouflaging, sitting and waiting,
punctuated by brief periods of foraging,"
Schnell said at the time.
"When they forage, they disrupt their camouflage, leaving them vulnerable
to any ocean predator out to devour them. We hypothesize that this led to
the evolution of delayed gratification, which allows cuttlefish to maximize
foraging by delaying the selection of higher-quality food."
It's an amazing illustration of how very different lives in very different
animals may lead to identical cognitive capacities and behaviors.
The researchers concluded that more study has to focus on figuring out
whether cuttlefish are really able to make plans for the future.
The team's research was published in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
