In this study, we analyzed the variation in cognitive flexibility in the Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango), across areas with different levels of urbanization. To assess this, we utilized the reversal learning assay which measures the ability to adapt behavior in response to changes in environmental contingencies. We also investigated the impact of neophobia on this variation. All chimangos studied succeeded in acquiring a color-reward association and reverting this learned association when the contingencies changed. Urban chimangos were faster than their rural and suburban counterparts during the initial discrimination and reversal phases. The reversal phase proved to be the most challenging task. The analysis of the errors made during this phase revealed that acquiring a new association (i.e., regressive errors) was challenging for the individuals studied, in comparison to inhibiting a previously learned one (i.e., perseverative errors). Neophobia was found to be lower in urban individuals compared to suburban and rural raptors. Moreover, neophobia showed a correlation with regressive errors during the reversal phase among rural and suburban chimangos, while no such correlation was observed among city-dwelling chimangos. We suggest that neophobia acted as a regulating factor of cognitive flexibility, mainly for individuals expressing relatively high levels of this personality trait.

中文翻译：

---

通才猛禽的认知灵活性：沿城市化梯度的比较分析

在这项研究中，我们分析了不同城市化水平地区的 Chimango Caracara (Milvago chimango) 认知灵活性的变化。为了评估这一点，我们利用了逆转学习测定法，该测定法测量了适应环境突发事件变化的行为能力。我们还研究了新恐惧症对这种变化的影响。所有研究的黑猩猩都成功地获得了颜色奖励关联，并在突发事件发生变化时恢复了这种习得的关联。在最初的歧视和逆转阶段，城市的奇曼戈比农村和郊区的奇曼戈更快。事实证明，逆转阶段是最具挑战性的任务。对这一阶段所犯错误的分析表明，与抑制先前学到的关联（即持续性错误）相比，获得新的关联（即回归错误）对于所研究的个体来说是具有挑战性的。研究发现，与郊区和农村猛禽相比，城市个体的恐新症较低。此外，在农村和郊区的奇曼戈中，新恐惧症与逆转阶段的回归误差存在相关性，而在城市居住的奇曼戈中没有观察到这种相关性。我们认为，新恐惧症是认知灵活性的调节因素，主要针对表达相对较高水平的这种人格特质的个体。