Animal Cognition Unit 1 Flashcards
Giving animals human like traits
Anthropomorphism
The belief that humans are the most important species
Anthropocentrism
14 dog experinment the owners believe to be about obedience, used to measure if dogs feel guilt or not (The dogs do not feel guilt rather it is a learned response based on theirs owners reaction)
Horowitz experiment
Based on Von Osten’s belief that horses are as intellgent as people, and set out to prove this by teaching a horse to do math, history etc. However Hans did not learn math he was however able to gauge the audiences reactions instead
Clever Hans
A soul is a kind of inner form that directs bodily activty
Aristotles Version of Soul
Plant Soul
-Focus on reproduction
-Focus on Growth
Vegitative Soul
Animal Soul
-Focus on mobility
-Focus on Sensation
Sensitive Soul
Human Soul
-Focus on thought
-Focus on Reflection
Rational Soul
Non-human creatures do not have souls and are simply just mindless automata
Descartes Dualism
Souless entity (lower than a human)
Automata
That all species have evolved over the same period of time and the variations we see now are based on the traits that have allowed these species to survive for as long as they have
Darwin’s theory of evolution via natural selection
In the same period as Darwin came up with the theory of evolution.
He also believed that higher reasoning was a faculty humans had beyond an evolutionary bias.
Alfred Russel Wallace
Believed that a species traits where determined by it’s life experiences
ex: a giraffee that went for taller tree’s neck would grow longer as time went on and the longer neck would then be passed on to it’s children
Lamark
Darwins idea that all physical traits where developed for a purpouse
ex: we did not develop eyes to see rather we developed sight because he have eyes as a faculty.
Functional Significance
There have to be variatable phenotypes in a species in order for there to be further evolution
(living organisms are not like gm crops which are carbon copies and would die to same thing)
Variability
Traits that are better suited to be passed on to the next generation
Ex: a brown field mouse is more likely to survive than a white field mouse.
Selective Advantage
Speices are bound to develop at different rates (not everyones going to have a kid at the same time which means spikes + plateu’s in population growth)
Diffrent Reproduction Rates
An organism is more likely to inherite a trait if it is dominant rather than recessive ( or if more of the population has it)
Inheritance rate
Focus on the study of animal behaviors in order to broadly apply the concepts to people
Behaviorism
The belief that because there is a lack of a human and other species communication network it is easier to study observable behaviors to be able to understand another speices mind
Focus on Observable Behavior
Focused on in lab experiments for optimal controlled environment
Behaviorists lab experiments
Father of classical conditioning
Pavlov
Father of Operant Conditioning
B.F Skinner
Who did the little albert experiment
John B. Watson
Law of effect:any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated, and any behavior followed by unpleasant consequences is likely to be stopped.
Thorndike
Biologists that study of animal behavior in the speices natural environment
Ethology
Ethologist known for their study of development
ex: becoming the ducklings ‘mother’
Lorenz
Came up with the four questions to study animal cognition ( functionality, mechanism, ontogeny, phylongeny)
Tinbergen
Why does the animal exibit this behavior? What evolutionary purpouse does it serve?
ex: nurturing or eating your young
functionality
What causes the behavior? Is it a specific stimuli? elemental factor?
ex: bird mating rituals happen as the days get longer i.e the days getting longer signals the birds to mate
mechanism
Has the trait developed over the organisms lifetime? How has this development impacted these traits?
ex: an isolated birds song is less well tuned than that of one in the wild with it’s species
Ontogeny
How has this species evoloved over several generations
ex: look at a geneological map/ study multiple similar species to note the similarities and differences
Phylogeny
While in most cases Tinbergen’s four questions categorization is unatainable for most species there has been enough research on birdsong that it is a rare case where there are answers to all four questions
Birdsong example
Do not overcomplicate behaviors ( explain it as the simplist behavior it aligns with)
Morgan’s Cannon
Frees researchers to look at a broader category of behaviors than a limited anthropocentric lens
Cognative Psychology
Different species can hear at different hertz levels
ex: humans can hear roughly from 100- 15,000 hertz
Hearing Test
Every individual (within a species and between all species) experiences the world in a different way
Von Uexcell
The surrounding world that all species live in
Umwelt
The world as the individual experiences it
Innwelt
The scallop has around 200 eyes while they have such a quantity they are mainly used to sense the world around and through use of shadow determine if there is danger around
Scallop eyes
How many color receptors does the average human have?
3
How many color receptors does the average mammal have ?
2
How many color receptors does a fish have?
4
How many color receptors does the average bird have?
6
Why is pigeon vision special ?
Pigeon vision is special because while they can not see red they can see in the ultra violet range and the magnetic field (also a hexochromat 5 cones 1 rod, and has nearsided vision)
How are we able to study other species senses?
Through experiments designed to test how species senses compare to human senses and make inferences from there
What are discrimination studies?
A form of visual study where the target is for a species to find the different light wavelength amoung the group and chose that ( finding/ discriminating against the other variables)
Guttam & Kalish Study
Study focused on finding the range of wavelengths that pigeons could see ( starting with 580 nm yellow range and expanding out from there ( the further out on either end of the spectrum the less light they saw)
Go/No go studies
Skinner box principal where the specimen is tested on their reaction to wavelenths for instance to see if they respond when the light is there and stop when it is not
Light polarity studies
Studies done to test whether or not pigeons can see the polarity of light using a modified skinner box with four response buttons ( one going north/south polarity, and the other going east/west) This study is important because future studies have worked to disprove it to some sucess and since the information has been muddled it becomes a difficult matter of discerning wether or not the initial or preceding data is true (delius study)
What is binocular vision?
It is when an animals visual spectrum overalps between its eyes (making it easier to see depth)
What is the difference between predetor and prey vision?
Predetor vision tends to be binocular and the eyes tend to be centered on the face, while prey vision is may have. a wider range which does not overlap and the eyes are positioned towards the sides of the face.
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
Sensation is the physiological aspects of a species physical existence which is tied to their conciousness, perception is the conciousnesses reasoning and bias for the way a species experiences the world.
Human Perceptions
Humans have a strong sense of object permancence which is not present in all species, that is due to our ability to recognize similar objects which is aided by out binocular vison, and by exstention ability to see depth.
What is Visual Agnosia
Is the inability to fully visualize objects (or in some case faces) which hinders an individuals object permance ( it seems that they are able to see small puzzle pieces of an object but never the full thing)
Who was Oliver Sacks?
Oliver Sacks was a neuropsychologist and came across an interesting case of visual agnosia in which a man believed his wifes head was a coat rack/ hat
What is the difference in depth perception between binocular and monocular cues?
bionocular depth perception is based on the overlap of vison between the eyes creating and image where we understand that because something is smaller it is far away, as comapred to a similar item close up. As opposed to monocular cues which rely on physical gradients and textures to denote somethings depth
Can pigeons retain object permanence?
Yes pigeons do seem to have object permanence, while it is easier for them to recognize an object they have seen before they can recognize differeing objects as well
What was the Spect and Friedman study?
This study consisted of showing pigeons abstract 3d models and then showing them 2d versions of said models to test to see if they had object permanence (it worked both ways from 2d to 3d and visa versa and even with alternating the model used)
What was the Garcia-Pelegrin experiment?
An experiment based around the idea of object permanence in birds (specifically the eurasian jay) by showing them three different magic tricks ( it turns out that these jays are better at perciiving object permanence in two out of the three tricks because these birds did not have the percived notions about the magic tricks unlike the human participants)
What was the Milleto-Pierazzi experiment?
This study using different sized plates with differing amount of food on the two controls and two different sized plates with the same amount of food to mimic the delbouf illusion to better understand the dogs sense of vision (It turns out they see more individual details rather than seeing the whole picture like humans so they didnt see the illusion.
What did dogs think of the Delbeouf illusion?
Because they have local processing rather than the whole picture they where not put off by the illusion
How do both Humans and Chimps react to the Delbeouf illusion?
They both can percive the illusion proving that Chimps have a similar global visual perception like people
How do fiddler crabs use the Ebbinghaus Illusion?
Because fem fiddler crabs are attracted to mates with larger claws male crabs with smaller claws surround themselves with crabs with even smaller claws to seem bigger by comparison ( likely meaning this crab has global processing?)
What was Park’s Naked Mole Rat study?
This study attempted to create an understanding of NMR’s sense of pain due to their tendency to sleep bellow the ground in a cuddle pile (which results in little oxygen in the air) The test itself was composed of a partitianed terrarium with half being slowly filled with Co2. The NMR’s moved to the oxygen controlled part of the tank once the other reached 10% Co2 as opposed to the normal 0.04% ( The findings state that the NMR’s nociceptors to be fewer than humans and are therefore more tolerant to pain)
What is Capcium?
Capcium is the chemical compound that gives spicier food that painful spicy sensation
What sensations trigger nociceptors?
Cold, heat, toxins, acid and pressure (remember nociceptors is a nerves response to pain)
What is an example of pain without a nociceptor reaction?
Phantom limb syndrome, anesthetics, and psychological pain
How are a Naked Mole Rats nociceptors different from that of a humans?
NMR’s have evolved to have a lack of nociceptors across their body, and funnily enough acid acts as an inhibitor for the nociceptors (acid immunity)
Do Insects feel pain ?
Yes they do, they likely have a differening pain response
What is the difference between localized and generalized pain ?
Localized pain refers to a specific point where the body can locate pain to. Versus generalized pain which just notes the general sense of pain on the body ( Gernalized pain is exibited in the long fin squid as a survival technique to flee when they are hurt, also because they can not reach all the points of their body due to their short limbs)
What was the Snenndon study?
This study looks at Zebra fish and whether or not they not only experience pain but if said pain is tied to mental anguish. This is done through a partitianted tank one with no decorations and the other with their desired decorations ( however the barren side is full of the antedote to the acid they have been injected with to feel pain (the zebra fish do go to the barren side of the tank to relieve the pain depicting pain treatment as an reactionary resposne above any mental anguish it may cause)
What was the Millsop study?
The millsop study fouses on Goldfish by training them to eat food from a specific section of the tank, after they have been acustomed to that Millsop shocks the fish once they go over to eat (they retreat and do not return for several days) This leads Millsop to believe that these fish are experiencing a form of mental anguish by avoiding the section of the tank (however critcs argue that fish are not mentally set up to acknowledge pain and therefore it is a matter of reflex)
What was the Elwood Study?
With the hopes of finding if hermit crabs experience psychological pain, through giving them a prefered or non-prefered shell with a shock option to see if they flee their shell ( arguing that fleeing the shell as a whole is a concious descision rather than a reflex. (more crabs in the on-prefered shell left the shell entierly, arguing they experience psychological pain (non-conclusive)
How much brain power do you need to expeirence psychological pain?
This question is missleading as there is no set number of neurons needed to experience pain, and rather scientists now focus on understanding the evolutionary reasons a species experiences pain.
What are the evolutionary benefits between pain and nociception
Nociception is the pain response which depending on the species varies wildly from generalized to local perception to the difference and different amount of nociceptors in the body, this directly impacts how a species experiences pain and therefore responds to it (psychological or not everything experiences pain to a certain degree)
What is a concept?
A concept is a species general understanding the visual world they form concepts about the world in order to further categorize and identify
What is a categorization?
A grouping of similar items, used to differenciate between what is and is not harmful to a species existance ( can be more nuanced)
What is the Wantanabe Study
Testing a pigeons ability to categorize via monet and picazzo paintings (and other similar artists) It turns out pigeons do have a sense of concept formation and categorization and can categorize these artists on par with what humans can (however unlike humans who generalize their visual input pigeons look at specifc aspects of the visual stimuli to categorize.
What is a Concept?
A concept is an idea formed by the mind that allows a species better understanding of their surroundings
What is a Category?
A category is a based on a species ability to descriminate something from the world (concepts are tied to the formation of categories)
What is the Levinson experiment ?
Tried to teach pigeons to distinguish between a cancerous and non-cancerous tissue sample, which the pigeons where able to do with a medically trained acurracy (however there have been skeptics against the findings because it could be a generalization of the information and not an understanding of cancer.
What is a generalization ?
(with regards to concept formation?)
Generalization in species is when a species learns to descern an image or object from others through general shapes and aspects rather than by being able to distinguish a category.
What is the D’aranto and Von Sant Experiment
Dealing with capuchan monkeys being shown images and are told to distinguish if they are people or not, ( while the monkeys seemed to do well they generalized their discriminations based on shapes of a specific size, and the color red) so they had trouble if the images where too close or too far to tell.
What is the application of categorization in the real world?
It is true that other species are able to categorize like the example of the mocking birds being able to discern different threat levels to their nest ( showing this is a cognative function that happens normally rather than something that exists only in the context of a lab)
