Animal Intelligence Flashcards
You are a hairy ape
- You have the same number of hairs on your body as a chimpanzee
- exact same bones and muscles
- legs are a little longer and your pelvis smaller
o walk upright - jaw and your teeth are smaller
You have basically the same brain
Belief that early humans’ ability to hunt in groups was special - Nope… other animals hunt cooperatively too
Man… “the tool user”
Belief that early humans’ ability to make tools and manipulate the environment made us special
- No, other animals make tools too
Man… “the communicator”
- Belief that early humans’ ability to use language and understand symbols made us special
- Not really… yes, humans are great at symbolic thought
- But, some animals can learn to use language and symbols too
- Monkeys, prairie dogs, whales, and dolphins may have specific calls that we might describe as “words”
What makes animals intelligent?
Three things…
- Brain size to body size
- Big brains relative to the size of the body
- Strategies used to find food
- Ability to find highly nutritious food that may be scarce or difficult to obtain
- Being social
- Ability to interact, communicate, and learn from others
- Requires an added form of “social” intelligence
Animals with biggest brain to body size
- Humans
- Dolphins
- Chimpanzees
- Baboons
- Crows
- Wolves (dogs)
- Elephants
- Gorillas
- Intelligence in animals influenced by diet
- How difficult is it for the animal to obtain food?
- What kind of food does it eat?
(Hunting animals requires more intelligence)
- What kind of food does it eat?
Feedback loop - food
- Nutritous food sources fuel bigger brains
- High in fats, sugars, and proteins
- Bigger brains needed find more nutritious food
- Often more nutritious food sources are hidden or on the move
Man’s best friend
- Dogs have rare forms of social intelligence
- Dogs outperform chimpanzees on some tasks
- Wolves do not show the same abilities as dogs
Dogs understand…
pointing - A form of symbolic thought
- Understand information is being communicated to them
Theory of Mind
- Ability to attribute mental states to others
- Understand that other people have minds like yours
- Develops in humans around 3-4 years old
- May involve activation of mirror neurons
- Mirror Neurons
- Neurons in premotor cortex in monkeys
- Responded when animals reached for objects
- Also responded watching another monkey reach
Uniquely Human Qualities
- Self concepts
- Self conscious emotions
- Conversational langauge
Self concepts
- Other animals may have self-awareness, but don’t seem to have distinct self concepts
Self-conscious emotions
- Emotions about how we feel about ourselves
- Embarrassment, Pride, Shame
Conversational language
Other animals can learn sign language but they don’t use it for conversation
Complex thought and abstract reasoning
- Humans are unmatched
- Allows us to create science, technology, literature, and culture
Smartest animals never exceed abilities of…
human 4 year old children
Executive Function
- The ability to regulate and control behavior and thought processes
- Controlled by the frontal lobes of the brain
