Wk 8 - Comparative cognition

Question 1

Darwin made which three assertions regarding evolution?

Which were problematic because…

Answer 1

1. All individuals vary between/within species, even twins
2. Some variants more likely survive/reproduce
3. Inferred from 1 and 2: given enough time, species will change – 2 separated groups will become 2 species
   Until then, humans considered distinct from animals

Question 2

Explain the Clever Hans phenomenon (x3)

And its implication for animal researchers (x1)

Answer 2

Mr von Osten’s horse could tap out answer to basic arithmetic, questions about dates, and once letter were assigned numbers, could spell
Pfungst noticed if questioner didn’t know answer, nor did horse – also couldn’t answer if he couldn’t see Osten
Was picking up subtle cues, followed by positive reinforcement
Animal researchers must take active steps to prevent cuing the animal eg covering face

Question 3

What is the Machiavellian intelligence hypothesis? (x4)

Evidenced by… (x1)

Answer 3

That it’s the social issues, not environmental change that brought increased intelligence in great apes - they don’t face many novel survival challenges
Environment includes companions, competitors for food/mates
Need to predict/control their behaviour – through forming bonds, eg mutual grooming
Goal to maximise individual as well as group benefit
Neocortex size shown to increase with increasing group size: need bigger brain to deal with social relationships

Question 4

Describe the results of MSR testing (x3)

Answer 4

Gallup’s mirror self-recognition test: mark the face, observe their behaviour
Orang-utan will reach for the mark, 12 mo human/monkeys can’t, 18mo can, all can by 24 months
Gibbons can’t: mark test performed with icing sugar; they love it and will lick off body parts, but not respond to it on face/in mirror, instead reaching around behind

Question 5

What is the homological argument for secondary representations?

Answer 5

By 30 months, humans show pretence, insightful problem solving, mirror self-recognition
Great apes (chimps, orang-utans, gorills) are only primates that do too
So all evolved after Old world monkeys and gibbons had split away (rather than separately in all species)

Question 6

Humans are… (x2)

Answer 6

Great apes that split from others: gorillas, chimps, orang-utans 6 million yrs ago, and bonobos 3 million

Question 7

What distinguishes primates from other animals? (x6)

Answer 7

Other animals have high reliance on smell
Our vision is: stereoscopic 3D = depth perceptions = not fall out of trees and colour detecting un/ripe fruit
Loss of wet naked nose, whiskers of other mammals
Encephalised – big brains relative to body size
Separated digits useful for manipulating environment
Mainly omnivorous

Question 8

What are the two opposing arguments re the uniqueness of human capacities?
Which continues because… (x1)

Answer 8

Discontinuity – emphasis on how we’re diff, threatens beliefs about religion/specialness if we’re just animals, justifies different treatment of animals/humans
Continuity – that nothing unique evolved in humans, showing capacity in animal would = prestige
How to know animal doesn’t have trait? Absence of evidence not evidence of absence

Question 9

Are we descended from apes? (x3)

Answer 9

No
99.4% shared genetics with chimps, but is misleading
It’s common ancestry: ape that was nothing like chimps or humans split into 2 lines/species, both then had 6 million yrs to evolve

Question 10

Darwin’s problem was not… (x1)
It was… (x2)
He predicted it was through… (x1)

Answer 10

Biology: continuity of anatomy, nervous/vascular systems was clear
But how to trace the evolution of psychology/mind: continuity of mental capacities
How to explain massive diff to other animals
Gradation: human’s not qualitatively diff, but more of what others have

Question 11

Romanes conducted the first comparative psychology, by… (x2)
Claiming that eg… (x2)

Answer 11

Collected anecdotes of clever animals
Drew analogies to make pretty big/misleading claims
Ants go to war, animals capable of suicide/criminal intent

Question 12

Lloyd Morgan’s Canon introduced to animal behaviour the principle of…
Which relates to comparative psych in that, eg… (1)

Answer 12

Parsimony

More likely squirrels store nuts due to instinct than IQ

Question 13

Trail and error responses by animals can… (x1)

But don’t show… (x2)

Answer 13

Intelligent behaviour
Insight - ability to solve novel problems in your mind
Means-ends reasoning - ability to keep problem in mind during other tasks/steps

Question 14

Insight is… (x1)

As seen in… (x3)

Answer 14

The ability to solve novel problems in your mind
Kohler’s chimps, 1917
• Learning to stack boxes to reach banana
• Solving problem in head first, not trial and error learning

Question 15

Means ends reasoning is.. (x2)

Answer 15

Keeping the problem in mind, while eg going into another room to pick appropriate tool
Not unique to humans

Question 16

Tool use was historically believed to be… (x1)
But evidence otherwise includes… (x4)
Leading to conclusions that… (x1)

Answer 16

Historically seen as evidence of unique human intelligence
Goodall found first instance, in chimps, more animals since - rooks
Chimps use rocks to crack nuts, sticks for ants, leaves as toilet-paper
Gorillas use stick to check water depth, dig for food
Orangutan seen trying to spear fish
Great apes more intelligent than others

Question 17

Characteristics/evidence that indicates primate social intelligence… (x5)

Answer 17

40% of time spent grooming – forming social bonds
Dominance hierarchies: knowing rank allows assessment of competition; 3rd and 4th largest males will team up to access mates = selection of social intelligence over physical attributes – rank relates to who you know, not just size…
Know who’s related to who: played infant monkey, mother looked to speaker, others looked to mother
Deception: eg grooming each other out of sight of alpha male
Cooperation: eg to escape enclosure – only seen in great apes

Question 18

Social learning by orang-utans was only observed in testing behaviours if… (x3)

Answer 18

Researcher mimicked their behaviour exactly
As if orang-utan is checking to see if researcher will copy them
Shown in all great ape species

Question 19

Rudimentary culture/social inheritance is shown in chimps through… (x1)
Which is not a result of… (x1)
And eg of… (x1)

Answer 19

Sticks used differently to get ants, as are rocks/wood to crack nuts
Environment = change in behaviour: are doing same behaviour differently = rudimentary culture
Hi-5 grooming position is only within certain group of chimps

Question 20

History of the study of communication in monkeys…(x3)

Conclusion…(x1)

Answer 20

Max Mueller in 1860s/70s: no other system is open-ended like human
Richard Garner 1890: studied the ‘simian tongue’ using playback studies with edison’s phonograph; claimed to decipher monkey words; study was a disaster in Africa
Marler et al 1980s: rediscovered playback approach; found specific sounds by different animals – words? And use of deception monkeys do it, but others let happen/don’t realise it’s happening
No evidence for non-human syntactical language

Question 21

Teaching language to apes… (x4)

Answer 21

Insufficient vocal apparatus, lack of vocal tract/facial muscle control
Successful learning of American sign language: chimps, eg Washoe; gorillas, eg Koko knows 1000 signs; orang-utans, eg Chantek
And also symbols: Terrace argues for behaviourst principles, but this doesn’t hold for…Kanzi and lexigrams
But no grammar/generativity

Question 22

Pretence in great apes and humans… (x3)

Answer 22

The world as it is, and may be – 2 simultaneous representations that don’t get confused
Great apes and 2yo humans play pretend
Eg chimp in the wild carrying log, pretending it’s a child – most evidence in captive apes

Question 23

Why does the gap between humans and apes appear so large? (x4)

Answer 23

View of linear evolution from ape to upright human is incorrect
After the split from chimps, at least 23 species of humans existed, all more closely related to us than chimps are, sometimes sharing the planet eg at 50 000 yrs ago
Wiping out of all these creates appearance of a big gap: genocide/wiping out as we spread
Gap grows as we wipe out more species

Question 24

Are we testing animals’ abstract thought, language, imitation, concepts with right tasks? Biased by our own perceptual system? (x6)

Answer 24

Crows refining twigs to get grubs – learning/trial and error, or problem-solving?
Orang-utans helping with laundry – mimicry or true learning?
Imitation needs and immediately good performance, otherwise it’s trial/error
Dolphins can understand/imitate first time, from human actions too
Pigeons can form concept of trees, and that Picasso differs from Monet – but can’t tell abstract, eg lines are unequal
Abstract/counting: humans can to 7-8 items instantly, from working memory, chimp has to count them up