Cognition

Question 1

What is consciousness?

Answer 1

Thinking about objects and events

Question 2

Is expression of thoughts using language necessary for conciousness?

Answer 2

No!

Question 3

What is perceptual conciousness?

Answer 3

Being aware of objects and events
Ex: Knowing that a predator is approaching

Question 4

What is reflective consciousness?

Answer 4

Being aware of one’s thoughts and feelings
Ex: Thinking about one’s fear of a predator

Question 5

What are some OK words to use when describing consciousness?

Answer 5

Search, inspect, decide

Question 6

What are some taboo words when describing consciousness?

Answer 6

Think, intend, understand, believe

Question 7

What are the pitfalls in intelligent behavior?

Answer 7

Clever Hans effect, lady luck effect, innate rules, trial & error learning

Question 8

Who was Clever Hans and what did he do?

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

What is the Clever Hans effect? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?

Answer 9

Unintentional cuing
Critical prediction: Animal will fail if cues are eliminated

Question 10

What is the Lady Luck effect? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?

Answer 10

Animal solved problem by chance
Critical prediction: Animal will fail if the test is repeats

Question 11

What is innate rules? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?

Answer 11

Rule-solving is instinctual
Critical prediction: Animal will fail if the problem is novel (new)

Question 12

What is trial & error learning? What is the critical prediction to go along with it?

Answer 12

Animal is muddling through
Critical prediction: Animal will fail on its first attempts if problem is novel to species AND to that individual

Question 13

What is genuine intelligence?

Answer 13

Thinking it through

Question 14

What is an umwelt?

Answer 14

The surrounding world or environment

Question 15

What is an innenwelt?

Answer 15

The world as its perceived and internalized

Question 16

What kind of perceptive abilities do animals have (give examples, too)?

Answer 16

Ultraviolet light - pigeons
Polarized light - bees
Ultrasonic hearing - bats

Question 17

How to investigate the perceptual world of animals?

Answer 17

Go/NoGo Discrimination Test

Question 18

Go/NoGo Discrimination test

Answer 18

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

Question 19

What is Morgan’s Canon?

Answer 19

A rule relating to animal behavior, which states that it should be explained as simply as possible.

Question 20

Perceptive ability: Magnetic Fields

Answer 20

Deer use magnetic fields but we do not know what they do with this information

Question 21

Perceptive ability: Electric sensitivity

Answer 21

Many fish can generate, detect, and communicate using electrical signals

Question 22

Perceptive ability: Polarized light

Answer 22

Used by bees and allows them to know where the sun is in the sky

Question 23

Perceptive ability: Ultraviolet/Infrared light

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Perceptive ability: Echolocation

Answer 24

Bats use this to fly. Blind bats can still fly, deaf bats can not

Question 25

What are the four stages of the mirror test?

Answer 25

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