Cognition Flashcards
What is consciousness?
Thinking about objects and events
Is expression of thoughts using language necessary for conciousness?
No!
What is perceptual conciousness?
Being aware of objects and events
Ex: Knowing that a predator is approaching
What is reflective consciousness?
Being aware of one’s thoughts and feelings
Ex: Thinking about one’s fear of a predator
What are some OK words to use when describing consciousness?
Search, inspect, decide
What are some taboo words when describing consciousness?
Think, intend, understand, believe
What are the pitfalls in intelligent behavior?
Clever Hans effect, lady luck effect, innate rules, trial & error learning
Who was Clever Hans and what did he do?
Clever Hans is a horse that could answer questions by stomping his foot. He would pick up on unintentional cues (nodding the head, people tensing up) and use those to answer the question. When he could not see the questioner or the questioner did not know the answer, he was rarely correct.
What is the Clever Hans effect? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?
Unintentional cuing
Critical prediction: Animal will fail if cues are eliminated
What is the Lady Luck effect? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?
Animal solved problem by chance
Critical prediction: Animal will fail if the test is repeats
What is innate rules? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?
Rule-solving is instinctual
Critical prediction: Animal will fail if the problem is novel (new)
What is trial & error learning? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?
Animal is muddling through
Critical prediction: Animal will fail on its first attempts if problem is novel to species AND to that individual
What is genuine intelligence?
Thinking it through
What is an umwelt?
The surrounding world or environment
What is an innenwelt?
The world as its perceived and internalized
What kind of perceptive abilities do animals have (give examples, too)?
Ultraviolet light - pigeons
Polarized light - bees
Ultrasonic hearing - bats
How to investigate the perceptual world of animals?
Go/NoGo Discrimination Test
Go/NoGo Discrimination test
Thirsty animal and they should only mandibulate when the light is on. Light goes on for 30 sec and back off for 30 sec. If you mandibulate during light on, then get water! If you mandibulate during light off, receive no water and time until light back on is extended
What is Morgan’s Canon?
A rule relating to animal behavior, which states that it should be explained as simply as possible.
Perceptive ability: Magnetic Fields
Deer use magnetic fields but we do not know what they do with this information
Perceptive ability: Electric sensitivity
Many fish can generate, detect, and communicate using electrical signals
Perceptive ability: Polarized light
Used by bees and allows them to know where the sun is in the sky
Perceptive ability: Ultraviolet/Infrared light
Bees use this to detect where the nectar is in the flower, as some sunflowers change color in UV to tell pollinators that it is full of nectar or not
Perceptive ability: Echolocation
Bats use this to fly. Blind bats can still fly, deaf bats can not
What are the four stages of the mirror test?
Social responses, physical inspection (e.g. looking behind the mirror), repetitive mirror-testing behavior, realization of seeing themselves.
Chimpanzees, elephants, and dolphins have done this, but the most unusual mirror test was done with fish
