Most people have seen animals solve problems in one context or another Whether it's a dog getting food out of a puzzle toy, a squirrel (松鼠) breaking into a "squirrel-proof, bird feeder, or — in what is hopefully a rarer experience — a bear opening a door to get to the food inside!
Do all individuals within a species come up with1 solutions to problems? Or are some individuals more innovative than others? In ungulates (for example, goats and horses), social outsiders are more likely to innovate than their 2 groupmates: if an individual spends time on the outer areas of their group, they are more likely to succeed at a problem-solving task.
3 , in some species of primates (灵长类动物) and birds, it has been shown that individuals with low social standing — that is, those who regularly lose fights, and who don't have 4 of access to valuable resources — tend to innovate more.
The above examples tie into the theory that the individuals who are least able to gain access to good quality 5 , such as food and shelter, are the most likely to innovate. This "bad competitor" theory suggests that individuals innovate because they must do so to 6 . Imagine you're a goat who can't get access to the feeding container because you're not in the in-group. You'd probably be more 7 to figure out how to open a container with food inside than your more popular (and well-fed) groupmates.
However, while there is support for this theory in some species, many species show opposing patterns.8 , being a "bad competitor" doesn't seem to be a general driver of innovation across species.9 appears to have a more general influence on animal innovativeness. A meta-analysis (综合分析) across 37 studies of animal innovation found that being brave (that is, approaching 10 objects and exploring new environments) was linked to innovative behavior. For example, brave Carib grackles (a species of bird) and ungulates are more likely to innovate than their more easily frightened groupmates.11 has also been linked to innovation in a variety of species, from zebra finches (斑胸草雀) to Asian elephants.
Both make instinctive sense. The more likely an individual is to 12 with a new problem (that is, the braver they are, and the more time they spend trying to solve a problem (that is, the more persistent they are), the more likely they are to find a(n)13 .
Regardless of the reason individuals innovate, once an individual finds a solution to a problem,14 a problem involving resource access, their behavior can spread like wildfire. Other individuals pay attention when a groupmate innovates, and 15 the problem-solving behavior.
