Maëlan Tomasek

Abstract Three main mechanisms have been proposed to explain divergent decisions between species faced with the same options: differences in sensory abilities, attentional capacities, or cognitive evaluations. While these mechanisms have been well-established in controlled settings, there is limited empirical evidence regarding the ways in which different species make decisions under varying perceptual loads.

Abstract The social intelligence hypothesis posits that animals living in more complex social groups display better cognitive performances. However, this hypothesis has mainly been investigated in primates and studies using similar paradigms across different species are scarce.

1 INTRODUCTION Comparing cognitive flexibility between different species is a potentially powerful way to probe the socio-ecological factors underlying the evolution of cognition. Cognitive flexibility is defined as the ability to modify one's decision rules and is crucial for individuals to adapt to new situations and navigate unpredictable and changing environments (Cañas et al., 2000).