Introduction

Question 1

What does cognition refer to in a biology context?

Answer 1

refers to the mechanisms by which animals
acquire, process, store, and act on information in the environment

Question 2

Name three mechanisms included in cognition

Answer 2

perception, learning, memory, and decision making

Question 3

Why can’t we use the notion of intelligence to describe animal behaviour ?

Answer 3

Intelligence is not a useful term for describing animal behaviour because it 1) is used to describe global ability/collection of cognitive abilities, and 2) should be defined formally with respect to a specified goal.

Question 4

What are Niklas Tinbergen’s 4 questions ?

Answer 4

How does it work?
What is it for?
How did it develop (individuum)?
How did it evolve (species)?

Question 5

What are Tinbergen’s 4 questions for?

Answer 5

To analyse animal behaviour

Question 6

Are behaviours generally innate or learned?

Answer 6

No behaviour is either strictly learned or entirely innate
behaviors or cognitive processes may develop pre functionally but can still be modified

Question 7

What does brain size tell us about an animal?

Answer 7

brains are not just smaller or larger versions of each other
it’s not about size but connectivity - number of neurons in the cortex ( brains of primates involve cells that never become bigger; for many other species: the more the neurons the bigger they become)

Question 8

What is animal cognition ?

Answer 8

refers to the mental capacities of non-human animals, encompassing the process by which they acquire, process, store and act on information on their environment