The Best Things in Life Are NOT for Free! More on Contrafreeloading in Captive Parrots

@enIn humans, a mental state of flow--an interesting phenomenon driven by intrinsic motivation (e.g., Hintze & Yee, 2023) in which a state of settlement in an activity is perceived as rewarding--requires a careful balance between skill and challenge throughout the activity (van der Linden et al, 2021). A mental state of flow may also explain some animal activities such as, for example, some patterns of play (Burghardt, 2010; Held & Špinka, 2011; Hintze & Yee, 2023) or exploration for the sake of exploring (see interest; Kashdan et al., 2018; but not exploration to reduce anxiety states caused by knowledge gaps; e.g., Löewenstein, 1994). Perhaps most of all, it could help to explain some instances of contrafreeloading in animals. Contrafreeloading is defined as a preference to deliberately invest work to obtain an extrinsic reward that is also freely available (Inglis et al., 1997). Notably, to be explained by flow, contrafreeloading needs to remain challenging to the animal. In this issue, Carroll and Pepperberg (see record 2025-20600-001) present a new study targeting contrafreeloading in four captive umbrella cockatoos, a large species known for their loud calls and their flamboyant display routines. The almost antioptimal foraging tendencies of captive parrots led researchers around Pepperberg to study them as avian models for contrafreeloading (e.g., Inzlichet et al, 2018; Inglis et al, 1997, de Jonge et al, 2008, Tarte et al, 1973). In the current study, prior to testing, the four Ss received two deshelled nuts as a choice to determine possible side biases in their choices. All had some side preferences. Thereafter, they received a choice between a shelled and a deshelled almond. The results were individually quite variable with two birds preferring deshelled almonds over shelled almonds. Nevertheless, one bird, Poly preferred shelled almonds over deshelled almonds at 70%. Moreover, all of the others chose the shelled nuts at least sometimes (one other bird at 60%). This is remarkable considering that, according to optimal foraging theory, they should always go after the effortless option. Large interindividual differences and small samples made it hard to draw strong conclusions at this point. With more zoos, sanctuaries, and laboratories joining large collaborative projects, testing the play hypothesis and/or playful flow in contrafreeloading across species may become more feasible soon. Understanding intrinsically rewarding routines, such as contrafreeloading and flow, has great potential to inform us on the optimization of enrichment and welfare routines in large-brained animals and thus promises to remain an exciting topic in comparative psychology in the forthcoming years. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien