PSYC 205 Chapter 5: Comparative cognition Chapter 5
Document Summary
Natural selection has favored cognitive processes that facilitate the ability to find the way both to and from specific location. Even if animals consistently arrive at the same place, does not prove that they had the intention of doing so: sometimes animals don"t know" that they have arrived until they get there. Dispersal the movement away from a parent or conspecific population due to declining resources, overcrowding, or mate competition. Example of getting there and knowing where processes working together: need mechanisms that direct their travel (getting there) and mechanisms that help them identify a suitable environment when they arrive (knowing where) 2 behaviours that let us examine the adaptive value of finding the way: Migration the seasonal movement between spatially distinct habitats: timely and physically challenging cost is enormous in terms of energy required for the journey and potential problems along the route. E. g. larger wingspan and increased capacity to store fat.