Data: Is behavioral flexibility manipulatable and, if so, does it improve flexibility and problem solving in a new context?

Behavioral flexibility, the ability to adapt behavior to new circumstances, is thought to play an important role in a species' ability to successfully adapt to new environments and expand its geographic range. However, flexibility is rarely directly tested in species in a way that would allow us to determine how flexibility works to predict a species' ability to adapt their behavior to new environments. We use great-tailed grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus; a bird species) as a model to investigate this question because they have recently rapidly expanded their range into North America. We attempted to manipulate grackle flexibility using colored tube reversal learning to determine whether flexibility is generalizable across contexts (multi-access box), and what learning strategies grackles employ. We found that flexibility was manipulatable: birds in the manipulated group took fewer trials to pass criterion with increasing reversal number, and they reversed a color preference in fewer trials by the end of their serial reversals compared to control birds who had only one reversal. Birds that passed their last reversal faster were also more flexible (faster to switch between loci) and innovative (solved more loci) on a multi-access box. All grackles in the manipulated reversal learning group used one learning strategy (epsilon-decreasing: long exploration period) in all reversals and did not use the (epsilon-first strategy: quickly shift their preference), and none used a particular exploration or exploitation strategy earlier or later in their serial reversals. Understanding how flexibility causally relates to other traits will allow researchers to develop robust theory about what flexibility is and when to invoke it as a primary driver in a given context, such as a rapid geographic range expansion.

行为灵活性（behavioral flexibility）指个体根据新环境调整自身行为的能力，被认为在物种成功适应新环境、扩张地理分布范围的过程中发挥着关键作用。然而，现有研究极少以能够明确阐释行为灵活性如何预测物种适应新环境行为的方式，直接对物种的灵活性开展检测。我们以大尾拟八哥（Quiscalus mexicanus，一种鸟类）作为模型物种开展此项研究，原因在于该物种近期正快速向北美地区扩张其分布范围。我们尝试通过彩色管反转学习范式操控拟八哥的行为灵活性，以探究灵活性是否可跨情境泛化（多通道箱（multi-access box）实验），以及拟八哥所采用的学习策略类型。研究结果显示，行为灵活性可被操控：随着反转次数增加，实验组鸟类达到实验标准所需的试验次数显著减少；与仅经历一次反转的对照组相比，实验组鸟类在系列反转实验末期完成颜色偏好反转所需的试验次数更少。那些在最后一次反转中完成速度更快的鸟类，在多通道箱实验中也表现出更强的灵活性（更快完成位点间切换）与创新性（解决更多位点任务）。所有参与反转学习实验组的拟八哥，在所有反转实验中均采用同一种学习策略（ε递减策略：长探索期），并未采用ε优先策略（快速转移偏好），且未在系列反转实验的不同阶段表现出特定探索或利用策略的倾向性变化。厘清行为灵活性与其他性状间的因果关联，将有助于研究者构建关于灵活性本质的严谨理论，并明确在特定情境（如快速地理分布扩张）中将其作为核心驱动因素的适用条件。