Scientists from Ruhr University (Germany) discovered that birds’ working memory works similarly to humans. The results of the research were published at: magazine Communication Biology.
Jackdaws and other corvids have the same working memory problems as humans: their memories become less accurate and more biased over time.
Working memory is a type of memory responsible for integrating and processing short-term and long-term information. It consists of auditory and spatial memory, an episodic buffer that connects this type of memory. This memory can store passwords, numbers or words, for example. However, these memories quickly deteriorate. Moreover, the more things people try to remember, the less likely they are to remember everything correctly.
The researchers subjected two jackdaws to various tests, including remembering colors. To start the test, each bird had to peck a white button. They were then shown a target color before being shown a grid of 64 colors. Jackdaws had to look at this chart and choose a target. As the number of target flowers increased, the birds’ response accuracy decreased. They chose similar tones but not target colors. This led scientists to conclude that birds have a greater load on their short-term memory.
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