Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31916193›Full record

ArticleLearning & behavior2020

No evidence that footedness in pheasants influences cognitive performance in tasks assessing colour discrimination and spatial ability.

Mark A Whiteside, Mackenzie M Bess, Elisa Frasnelli, Christine E Beardsworth, Ellis J G Langley, Jayden O van Horik, Joah R Madden

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Learning & behavior, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Effect of visual lateralization on the spatial position of individuals within a school of oval squid (Sepioteuthis lessoniana).Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology · 2024
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Mark A WhitesideCentre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK. Mark-Whiteside@Hotmail.co.uk.ORCID 0000-0001-7212-7279
Mackenzie M BessCentre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
Elisa FrasnelliSchool of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Lincoln, LN6 7DL, UK.
Christine E BeardsworthCentre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
Ellis J G LangleyCentre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
Jayden O van HorikCentre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.
Joah R MaddenCentre for Research in Animal Behaviour, Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The differential specialization of each side of the brain facilitates the parallel processing of information and has been documented in a wide range of animals. Animals that are more lateralized as indicated by consistent preferential limb use are commonly reported to exhibit superior cognitive ability as well as other behavioural advantages. We assayed the lateralization of 135 young pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), indicated by their footedness in a spontaneous stepping task, and related this measure to individual performance in either 3 assays of visual or spatial learning and memory. We found no evidence that pronounced footedness enhances cognitive ability in any of the tasks. We also found no evidence that an intermediate footedness relates to better cognitive performance. This lack of relationship is surprising because previous work revealed that pheasants have a slight population bias towards right footedness, and when released into the wild, individuals with higher degrees of footedness were more likely to die. One explanation for why extreme lateralization is constrained was that it led to poorer cognitive performance, or that optimal cognitive performance was associated with some intermediate level of lateralization. This stabilizing selection could explain the pattern of moderate lateralization that is seen in most non-human species that have been studied. However, we found no evidence in this study to support this explanation.

Indexed as

GalliformesSpatial NavigationAnimalsCognitionColorFunctional LateralityAssociative learningFootednessLateralitySpatial learning

Identifiers

PMID31916193
PMCPMC7082386

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.