Exploring animal self awareness and cognition. Thoughts and stories welcome.

Greetings ATS!





Amongst all the doom and gloom end of the world scenarios than flood this site daily, I have been trying to keep a balance and concentrate some time into researching animal consciousness. First and foremost I must admit that I am a dog lover. I love the canine species, and the mutual attachment we share with this species despite the obvious barriers. Now ...before the feline crowd feels alienated, I must admit we have a cat as well. And though I prefer my dog, I have mega respect for a 12 lb cat that can beat the snot out of my 80 pound dog




Any one that has spent any amount of time with there pets, knows that there are times when you would swear that your pet posses human qualities and traits. Because of these characteristics, we grow to actually love and care for our beloved pets as if they were a family member. And from what i have experienced, I would swear they love me in return.
So what does science have to say about animal consciousness? According to some of my research into this topic, up until the late 50's earl 60's most viewed animals interaction with humans as a matter of conditioning case in point Ivan Pavlov

As Pavlov's work became known in the West, particularly through the writings of John B. Watson, the idea of "conditioning" as an automatic form of learning became a key concept in the developing specialism of comparative psychology, and the general approach to psychology that underlay it, behaviorism

In other words an animal only learns and reacts due to a repeated process or routine.


Ulrich neisser
It wasn't until Ulric Neisser research and book on cognitive psycology did scientists taken another approach to animal behavior and consciousness. Even then, most scientists approached the topic of animal consciousness as most main stream scientists today approach the UFO/ET phenomenon.


John Lilly
Coincidentally, John C. Lilly who was involved with SETI during the early sixties had been doing research on communication between dolphins and humans.

He later studied other large-brained mammals and during the late 1950s he established a facility devoted to fostering human-dolphin communication: the Communication Research Institute on St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. During the early 1960s, Lilly and co-workers published several papers reporting that dolphins could mimic human speech patterns.[7][8] Subsequent investigations of dolphin cognition have generally, however, found it difficult to replicate his results.[citation needed]

LINK


Donald Griffin


Jane Goodall
Researchers and scientists such as John C. Lilly, Donald Griffin, [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall]Jane Goodall have truly held the torch in animal cognition and animal behaviorism, in an era where animals were viewed as unaware and unintelligent. Thankfully, despite criticism and alienation from peers, there research continued and they amongst others, have opened our eyes and understanding to the complexity of animal behavior and interaction. Jane Goodall is probably the most famous for her work and observation regarding Chimpanzees in the mountains of Tanzania. Because of there persistants, they have paved a road for others into this fascinating subject, and a whole new approach to the topic of animal cognition .

Probably the most compelling of arguments for animal intelligence is the use of tools, and communicating during hunting.


Dolphins use marine sponges to stir up the bottom looking for food.


Monkey using a stick to fish out termites.






Chimpanzee using a stone hammer.

The handheld hammers were found at a chimpanzee settlement in the Ivory Coast and date back 4,300 years. Chimpanzees have been observed using similar tools for the past few centuries, but scientists assumed the intelligent apes were simply copying local people cutting open fruit nearby.

LINK

The scientists investigated the Fongoli community of savannah-dwelling chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) [image] in southeastern Senegal. The researchers saw 10 different chimps fashioning spear-like tools to forcibly jab at nocturnal primates known as lesser bushbabies (Galago senegalensis), which sleep inside hollow branches or tree trunks during the day. After their attacks, the chimps sniffed or licked their weapons, as if to see whether or not they shed blood.

LINK

The crows craft tools to specific needs [image]. They examine a problem and then pick or design an appropriate tool [video]. For example, faced with a snack lodged in a small tree hole, a crow will prune and adjust a leafy oak branch to just the right width to poke into the hole.

LINK

The more I research the topic, the deeper the rabbit hole goes. Discovery Channels series Planet earth was a testament to the advances in high definition photography and filming. Never before could we observe certain animals in there natural habitat, and what is being observed is no less than spectacular.

Recently I came across an article written in Time Magazine, Inside the Mind of animals written By Jeffrey Kluger , that reassured any doubt in my mind that animals are indeed self aware and alot more intelligent than given credit for.



Kanzai

Not long ago, I spent the morning having coffee with Kanzi. It wasn't my idea; Kanzi invited me, though he did so in his customary clipped way. Kanzi is a fellow of few words — 384 of them by formal count, though he probably knows dozens more. He has a perfectly serviceable voice — very clear, very expressive and very, very loud. But it's not especially good for forming words, which is the way of things when you're a bonobo, the close and more peaceable cousin of the chimpanzee.
Read more: www.time.com...

But Kanzi is talkative all the same. For much of his day, he keeps a sort of glossary close at hand — three laminated, place mat — like sheets filled with hundreds of colorful symbols that represent all the words he's been taught by his minders or picked up on his own. He can build thoughts and sentences, even conjugate, all by pointing. The sheets include not just easy nouns and verbs like ball and Jell-O and run and tickle but also concept words like from and later and grammatical elements like the -ing and -ed endings signifying tense.
Read more: www.time.com...

384 words! That's probably more words memorized than most American high school students.

I strongly suggest you click the Time link and read the whole article. Its absolutely amazing how much is being learned right now about the animal kingdom. Every day the barriers that separate man from animal are being overcome. To the point that many believe one day through technology are pets may even be able to interact with us though a medium.


However nice it may be to talk to your dog or cat someday and have them respond, the truth of the matter is, we already converse with our pets on a daily basis. Body language, smells, chemical releases in our body, tone of voice. All these things are important communication skills that every pet owner over time picks up on, and begin to understand what your animal is trying to tell you, and visa versa.

I understand some of the information I tried to present is common knowledge to some. and there are some great threads here on ATS on this subject. In fact there is so much relevant information out there on this subject that one could start a thread every day on something new related to animal cognition. But time only permits what I have put together today and In hope you enjoyed the read. If anyone has any pictures, videos, or links of interest please post to thread.

highfreq

animal self awarness is currently detirmined by if they appear to recognize their own reflections as a reflection and not just another animal.
they have detirmined that most apes, dolphins, possibly whales, crows and magpies, elephants and all the types of parrots are able to do this. where as animals like cats and dogs cant.
there is most likely that there is some problems with this testing

Where is this story in this thread?
Right here...



One of my favorite stories. The lion crossed boundaries thought to be uncrossable. I don't know if that is self awareness, but it's an awareness of the bridge from wild to domestic.

I have a tortoise that I swear loves me. Seriously! She will hang out with me while I'm putzing around the house, will come to me when I call her, and harasses the dog. The cat, however, feels too superior to even pay attention to her. I might be smarter than my pets, but they all have distinct personalities - and have been known to out-smart the humans in the house.

, and most of the animals i listed need protection badly, i find it almost sad we find certain animals that have human like intelligane and what do we do, we clear ones habittat(apes), we paoch the other(eplephants), we keep some as pets(parrots, i admitt im gulity here but theve become good friends of mine personaly) we pollute and hunt two (whales and dolphins), and my idiot uncle starts shooting at one of them because they annoy him(crows)

I LOVE this guy. His name is Brom (Gaelic for Raven). He is a crow that I rescued 8 yrs ago that was lost in a bad wind s Unfortunately he is not afraid of anything. He was almost lunch by a few Border Collies. Brom would walk up to any of the dogs or people as if he knew them, which wasn't normal, he must have belonged to someone. I observed him for quite a while & out of ~ 20 people he chose me, jumped up on my arm & said hello. I took him in & the 1st night I watched him make a tool. I had 100 peacock feathers in my room & he wanted one. He took a twig, made a tool by curving the end of it, shimmied it out of the enclosure, hooked the feather & pulled it in. Fascinating to watch. He knows his name, comes to where I call him, I say give me some love & he puts his head down & fluffs out his feathers for me to scratch his head & kiss his face. I don't know how old he is because his eyes had already changed, meaning he was an adult. They can live up to 22 yrs in captivity. When he's out he's the boss, the cat & dogs don't bother him, they actually move out of the way. When my parrot is out he's the boss & will run the 2 Border Collies off the bed & go sit by the cat.
My cat comes to the dog recall whistle, knows her name, & sits on command.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/538c96d0c292.jpg[/atsimg]
Sorry I had 3 photos but they are getting cut off. these were taken with cell phone.
Ektar

i will say with the thoughts of animals self awarness. i have a dog who two years in a row he knocked over our christmas tree, both times he jumped on this couch and got this innocent look in his face, that ive never seen except in those to scenarios

reply to post by highfreq


Great thread.

I don't really think you can quantify something like self-awareness. I don't see it as "either you are or or you're not" kind of thing but a scale of how much. Virtually every animal that has a vested interest in their own self-preservation has to be somewhat conscious of their existence, even if the decisions they make are dominated by instinct rather than more complicated emotions, aka "free will".

I don't like to think of humans as different/separate from the rest of nature in this regard, we're simply "more complex". In either case, it's a fascinating topic for sure.

reply to post by Jibby Jedi


That is an awesome video. I remember seeing that before and yes, that should be included. Actually there is alot that should have been included, but time didn't permit. I must admit I was originally looking into Kanzai, and the Time magazine article when I started finding more into this topic, and at the last minute attempted to throw a thread together. Some of the pics posted got messed up and I have a bunch more info that I wanted to share. None the less it's posted and I'm eager to hear what others have to say.
Each animal has a distinct personality, and I find some peoples first hand encounters with animals extremely intriguing.

reply to post by Ektar


Very cool! Thank you for sharing your pic and story. Watching that bird make a 'tool' right in front of you must have been shocking at first. Hope he gives you many more years of companionship and joy.

reply to post by connorromanow

i will say with the thoughts of animals self awarness. i have a dog who two years in a row he knocked over our christmas tree, both times he jumped on this couch and got this innocent look in his face, that ive never seen except in those to scenarios

Exactly. These are the traits we observe in are animals on a daily basis, that give us insight into there awareness. My dog does the same thing. When my wife and I leave the house for supper or a night out, we always know as soon as we enter the house if he's been a good boy or not. If he is guilty of anything at all, he will still greet us but wont approach. He will sit with his head staring at the ground and won't make eye contact. He knows he did wrong, before I even see the mess or say anything about it, which lends credence to me that he is indeed aware of his actions and consequences.

reply to post by mc_squared

I don't really think you can quantify something like self-awareness. I don't see it as "either you are or or you're not" kind of thing but a scale of how much.

That's a good point. As I started looking into the subject, early psycologist and scientist looked at animal cognition as program/natural instinct. Through the perseverance of the devoted it has become widely accepted that most, not all, animals have a levelof self awareness. The question now is as you stated. At what level of consciousness are they aware?

reply to post by Lolliek


Dude! That has to be one of the coolest posts I've seen in a while. You have a Tortoise that follows you Star for you

Here's some video's of mirror tests.

Last night, I was playing with my 22 lb cat, Dolly. He was running around the living room and I was chasing him. I left this empty purse on the floor. He ran into it, but only his head hid in there because it was only a small purse. I pulled him out and told him I could see him. The game of tag continued. As he came running toward me, I fitted the purse on his head. I said to him, "Haha!" Then I removed it, and he ran under a chair, peeking up at me, but he was laughing. Anyone who has owned 'pets' for a long time, knows about how it looks and sounds when a dog or cat laughs. Their mouth is open, the ends are curled up in a smile, and they make a pant noise.

reply to post by highfreq


Thank you! Sorry the photo came out so HUGE, the better one is of him on my computer but the pic was cut off. May have to do with the phone photo Blue Tooth down load.
There are some incredible videos out there....Remember Koko the Mountain Gorilla , Silver Back, or ? Ape sorry can't remember...but knows sign language & had a kitten & named her Ball.
There's also an African Grey named Alex that can form words by putting parts together & a recent Border Collie that knows 1000 names of toys or objects & is smart enough to recognize an odd one with whatever name you just gave it & go blindly bring it back.....
Guess being called a Bird Brain isn't bad after all...LOL!!!

Ektar