Psychologists adhered to Morgan s canon: Problem of anthropomorphism

Transcription

1 Animal intelligence While 18th, 19th century scientists considered animal minds, animal cognition was ignored in modern approach Why?: Hard to quantify, measure Too subjective Usually just anecdotal evidence Seemingly complex behaviors can be explained w/out cognition Problem of anthropomorphism Psychologists adhered to Morgan s canon: In no case may we interpret an action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher psychological faculty, if it can be interpreted as the outcome of one which stands lower in the psychological scale. Behavioral ecologists generally treat animals as mechanisms that receive various stimuli and respond predictably 1

2 But anecdotes over the years Cognitive ethology - Donald Griffin 1976 In a city park, a hungry green-backed heron picks up a twig, breaks it into small pieces, and carries one of these to the edge of a pond, where she drops it into the water. At first it drifts away, but she picks it up and brings it back. She watches the floating twig intently until small minnows swim up to it, and she then seizes one by a rapid thrusting grab with her long, sharp bill. Another greenbacked heron from the same colony carries bits of material to a branch extending out over the pond and tosses the bait into the water below. When minnows approach this bait, he flies down and seizes one on the wing. Considered that animals show signs of mental experiences Abstract concepts Intentional behavior We can have more than just anecdotal evidence Why we should consider that animals might use cognition: Evolutionary continuity Donald Griffin Neurophysiology is shared. There is no uniquely human brain anatomy (however, we ve since learned more about this) Why is there intelligence in some animals and not others? Generalist feeding mode Sociality is common in animals displaying intelligent behavior (gorillas, chimps, crows, dolphins, vervet monkeys, meerkats) Behavioral flexibility exists in animals 2

3 What is cognition? Cognition utilization of mental processes to direct behavior Formation of abstract concepts Representation in communication Use of language (what is language?) Intentional states wanting believing Cognition: mental maps Clark s nutcracker - hides many thousands of pine seeds over several miles and finds them again. Mental map stores locations, landmarks Cognition and feeding (p.71-72) Show episodic memory Scrub jays hiding food w/ onlooker will later relocate hidden food (social cognition) Dominant individual Has hider ever stolen? They also hide food in late breakfast room ( mental time travel ) Mental abilities fairly specialized Cognition: novelty Faced with a novel problem, animal can solve it the first time. Caledonian crows use tools to manipulate other tools solve problems on one try In Japan, crows drop nuts onto a road so that cars crack open nuts 3

4 Cognition: intentionality Some ground nesting birds use a broken wing display. Their modification of the display suggests intentionality Natural selection would select for cognition to direct complex behaviors, instead of having a large set of stimulus-responses for every contingency Cognition: abstract concepts Pigeons form mental concepts that categorize or symbolize certain stimuli Picasso vs. Monet Distraction display Using tools Cognition: tool use Chimps use a variety of tools ex: termite probes Some dolphins use sponges to protect their snout while poking during foraging. Behavior may be taught by mother But what about termite fishing in assassin bugs? Goodall,

5 Cognition: communication Referential signals some alarm calls Referential signals in communication Ground squirrels, prairie dogs, ground birds, vervet monkeys Symbolic signals ape language studies of 70 s 90 s chitterchat whistle Intentional signals (later) Cognition: symbolic signals Use of mental representations and language have been extensively studied in apes Washoe Nim's longest sentence was the 16-word-long "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." Symbolic signals parrot study Alex a parrot can distinguish an object by its color, shape and the material it is made of. He might have concepts for color, shape, etc bc he can apply them to novel objects How many red? Alex: Six What matter? Alex: Wool What color is corn? Alex: Yellow 5

6 Language studies Are apes and parrots thinking or is their performance a result of simple associations between objects and sounds/symbols? Language experts argue that they don t use language (no syntax) and animals aren t designed to use such language Kanzi: 96% of signs are functional signs (about food or toys). Koko: There is a lot of interpretation by Penny Patterson In my mind this kind of research is more analogous to the bears in the Moscow circus who are trained to ride unicycles. You can train animals to do all kinds of amazing things. These apes have simply learned how to press the right buttons in order to get the hairless apes on the other side of the console to cough up M&M s and bananas. Dr. Steven Pinker - cognitive psychologist Attempting to teach language to animals is like trying to teach people to flap their arms and fly. Humans can fly about 30 ft. Is that flying? The question is totally meaningless Dr. Noam Chomsky, linguist Young children babble and have a innate capacity to learn language, apes do not The story of Clever Hans Can animal cognition reach higher levels? Do animals think about the behavior of others? Theory of mind 6

7 Levels of intentionality (Dennett) Zero : behavior is directed by stimuli or emotional state of animal First : Animal has beliefs or wants and behavior directed to achieve these Do vervet monkeys use intentional signals, what level? Zero : Cry of surprise or fear First : Caller wants to modify behavior of others Second : Caller wants to modify the minds of others Second : Animal is aware of the beliefs or wants of others Theory of mind Vervet Communication Even without predators, the appropriate response was the one most often seen. Second level of intentionality? Do vervets have understanding of the awareness or minds of others? Monkeys responded but did not call themselves Eagle calls elicit different responses to listeners in different contexts. 7

8 Tests for level 2 intentionality Humans develop level 2 intentionality after age 4 Sally-Anne test Smarties test Do animals ever display higher intentionality? What does it mean when your dog looks guilty when you get home? Primates sometimes indicate what they want Primates can also be deceptive at times.. ex: Chimp mother with son where is his fear grin? It is tricky to extrapolate internal mental states from behavior here is an attempt: Deception in food competition (chimps) Chimps seem to understand not just what the man was trying to do, but why he was doing it the way he was (the intention to the goal) But might the chimps just be learning a simple rule like If I don t see the person s face I am safe 8

9 Deception in food competition (chimps) Deception in food competition (chimps) Chimps more often use opaque tunnel when exp r present Chimps more often quiet tunnel when exp r present Deception in food competition (chimps) In these experiments, chimps would often choose correctly in the first trials. However, their performance would generally improve over the trials. Does their steady improvement suggest cognition? 9