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Self‐control in crows, parrots and nonhuman primates
Author(s) -
Miller Rachael,
Boeckle Markus,
Jelbert Sarah A.,
Frohnwieser Anna,
Wascher Claudia A. F.,
Clayton Nicola S.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.526
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1939-5086
pISSN - 1939-5078
DOI - 10.1002/wcs.1504
Subject(s) - gratification , delay of gratification , psychology , cognition , self control , comparative cognition , developmental psychology , control (management) , cognitive psychology , social psychology , computer science , neuroscience , artificial intelligence
Self‐control is critical for both humans and nonhuman animals because it underlies complex cognitive abilities, such as decision‐making and future planning, enabling goal‐directed behavior. For instance, it is positively associated with social competence and life success measures in humans. We present the first review of delay of gratification as a measure of self‐control in nonhuman primates, corvids (crow family) and psittacines (parrot order): disparate groups that show comparable advanced cognitive abilities and similar socio‐ecological factors. We compare delay of gratification performance and identify key issues and outstanding areas for future research, including finding the best measures and drivers of delayed gratification. Our review therefore contributes to our understanding of both delayed gratification as a measure of self‐control and of complex cognition in animals. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Psychology > Comparative Psychology