intelligence in animals 3

• Problem solving - law of effect

  • responses which are accompanied by satisfaction will be more firmly connected to the situation
• Problem solving: Insight and folk physics

  Kohler

  • apes
  • hung a bunch of bananas
  • Found the apes stacked boxes on top of each other
  • Allowing them to climb up and reach the bananas
• Problem solving: causal inference

  why you would pick one object other another for its use

  • monkey picks object to cut an apple into three pieces
  • provided with 3 objects and an apple
  • -Found apes used the knife straight away to cut the apple
• problem solving in animals has been debated

  • important to know prior experience - e.g may have seen handler use knife
  • Possible to explain many of the findings with trial and error learning and generalisation of response
• TEST FOR ABSTRAT THAGHT: test how they identify relationships

  • train animals on images
  • get them to match images to sample
  • get given a reward
  • animals learn to associate samples with reward
  • Learning by trial and error but not abstract thought

  To overcome test using different stimuli/images that use the same rules
• Relationships as categories: analogical reasoning

  Reasoning based on finding a common relationship between 2 situations E.g. dog is to puppy as cow is calf

  GILLAN

  • Tested for analogical reasoning in a Chimpanzee
  • Was able to show a level of analogical reasoning e.g. solved key for lock, can opener for tin
• social learning: mimicry

  a response that is copied and does not lead to reward
• social learning: imitation

  response that is copies and leads to reward
• Mechanisms of imitation and mimicry

  instrumental conditioning:

  • sight of a response in a demonstrator excites same response in observer
  • Observation of demonstrator being rewarded is rewarding to the observer

  HOW does this occur:

  MIRROR NEURONES

  neurones that fire when an animal is observing or performing the same response
• theory of mind

  Assign emotions to others

  E.g. does a pet dog know your sad or have they learnt to associate specific behaviours with you being sad
• self recognition

  Being able to recognise oneself in a mirror

  Povinelli et al (1997):

  • chimps
  • placed paint on their faces
  • observed response to paint in mirror
  • found the chimps wiped of the paint

  = self - recognition
• Distribution of Intelligence

  • intelligence related to brain size
  • Intelligence is graduated throughout the animal kingdom
  • All vertebrates are of the same intelligence, except humans who are smarter – null hypothesis -