Sepia, marine invertebrates related to squid and octopus, can pass the so-called “marshmallow test”, an experiment designed to test whether human children have self-control to expect a better reward.
The study, published Wednesday in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, places cuttlefish among larger-brained vertebrates, such as great apes, parrots and corvids, in terms of how long they can delay satisfaction and makes them the first invertebrates to demonstrate self-control. , Reported Live Science.
“Self-control is considered to be the cornerstone of intelligence because it is an important prerequisite for making complex decisions and planning for the future,” the lead author and associate of psychological research at Cambridge University told Live Science.
The marshmallow experiment was first performed at Stanford by Walter Mischel in the 1960s. To test the mechanisms behind self-control, children were offered a choice between having a marshmallow or another delicacy, now or waiting 15-20 minutes. to receive two. Recent research has questioned the idea that children’s ability to wait determines success later in life, as The Atlantic explained. Instead, both capacity and subsequent achievements can be explained by external factors, such as economic stability. However, this did not stop the test from becoming a viral meme among quarantined tired parents, as Buzzfeed explained.
For cuttlefish, the reward had to be slightly changed. Instead of sugary sweets, cuttlefish had a choice of a favorite meal, such as grass shrimp or shrimp, or a less favorite meal, such as the Asian shore crab, Live Science explained. They were presented with two drawers. One that opened immediately with the less preferred table and one that opened after a delay with the favorite table. If he chose the first option, the second snack would disappear.
“The cuttlefish in this study were able to expect a better reward and tolerated delays of up to 50-130 seconds, which is comparable to what we see in large-brained vertebrates such as chimpanzees, crows and parrots.” , said Schnell for the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), where the research was conducted.
The researchers then tested the cuttlefish for information and found that cuttlefish that could wait longer for their favorite foods did better on a learning test. This marks the first time that intelligence and self-control are linked to an animal other than humans or chimpanzees.
However, Schnell and her colleagues are not sure why cuttlefish needs self-control. For social animals such as parrots, crows, monkeys and humans, it is important for group solidarity. For example, people wait to eat to share mealtimes. It can also be important for animal builders to have the patience to build a tool before hunting.
In sepia, researchers hypothesize that self-control performs a different function.
“Sepia spends most of its time camouflaging, sitting and waiting, punctuated by short feeding periods,” Schnell told MBL. “They break camouflage when they feed, so they are exposed to every predator in the ocean that wants to eat them. We speculate that delayed satisfaction could have evolved as a byproduct of it, so cuttlefish can optimize feeding by waiting to choose a higher quality. good food. “
The fact that both camouflaged cuttlefish and social monkeys need self-control is an example of something called convergent evolution, a process in which animals develop the same traits through different mechanisms.
Correction: An earlier version of this story said the study was published on Thursday. It was updated to say it was published on Wednesday, March 3rd.
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