HIDE AND SEEK - 5 minutes How good is your bird's memory for places?
This is a spatial memory test that tests two parts of your bird's memory. If the animal can find the treat, it has managed to remember both the layout of the room and the position of the treat in relation to all the other objects in the room.
What do I need?
4 pet treats or toys
Step 1: Take a treat and let your bird see you hide it somewhere in the cage or in a familiar room.
Step 2: Take your bird out of the cage or room and hide a further 3 treats in other places.
Step 3: Let your bird back in the room and ask them to find the treat. How does your bird react?
Results:
A - Bird finds the first treat you hid immediately
B - Bird finds the first treat you hid eventually but before the other treats
C - Bird doesn't find the treat at all or finds the first treat you hid after another treat
If option A - Your bird has performed well. It has used two types of memory to perform this task. It used its spatial memory to remember the layout of the space, and it used its episodic memory to remember the action of your placing the treat in the hiding place.
If option B - Your bird had to think about this, but it appears to have remembered the hiding place of the treat. To do this it used its spatial memory to remember the layout of the space, and it used its episodic memory to remember the action of your placing the treat in the hiding place. There is also a chance that your bird discovered the hidden treat accidentally before it discovered the others.
If option C - Your bird has forgotten where you hid the treat. This is less dim than it may seem. To succeed your bird has to use two types of memory, a spatial memory to remember the layout of the space, and an episodic memory to remember the action of your placing the treat in the hiding place. So it's quite a complex task.
