Purpose: Students will investigate research studies that explore intelligence in nonhuman animals and break down the experimental design and results of each study. Then students will consider how personal experience, assumptions and prior knowledge might influence how researchers define intelligence. Using their understanding of the research, students will evaluate and communicate their findings.
Procedural overview: In this activity, students will read the Science News article “Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware” from Science News online as homework before answering questions that investigate the relationship between self-awareness and intelligence. A version of the article, “Fish recognize themselves in photos,” appears in the March 22, 2023 issue of Science News. Students will then be divided into five groups, each investigating a different animal intelligence article from Science News. After students answer questions about their article, they will create a poster about the research and define intelligence.
Approximate class time: 1 to 2 class periods
Supplies:
Poster boards
Poster materials (paper, markers, pencils)
What’s Going On in the Animal Mind student worksheet
Directions for teachers:
The setup
Review the principles of experimental design with students before beginning this activity. Referstudents to “Cookieology: Experimental design 101” in Science News Learning for information about quantitative and qualitative data, variables, hypotheses, data collection and results.
Assign the Science News article “Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware” as homework. A version of this article, “Fish recognize themselves in photos,” appears in the March 11, 2023 print issue.
Animal intelligence
After students read the Science News article “Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware” as homework, ask them to answer the following questions.
1. What do you think was the study’s scientific question?
Are bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, self-aware?
2. What do you think was the researchers’ hypothesis?
When bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, are shown their reflection or a photograph, they are able to recognize themselves and distinguish themselves from other fish.
3. What were the study’s independent variables?
One of the independent variables was the method researchers used to show the fish an image; the scientists used either a mirror or a photograph. The other independent variable was whether the fish in the image was marked with brown dye or left unmarked.
4. What were the study’s dependent variables?
One dependent variable was whether the fish were aggressive in response to the mirror or photograph. Another dependent variable was whether the fish tried to remove brown dye from their own bodies when shown their reflection or a photograph of a fish marked with brown dye.
5. What were the study’s results?
The fish recognized themselves in the mirror and in photographs, reacting aggressively to photographs of other fish. When the fish viewed an image of themselves with brown dye under their scales, either in the mirror or in a photograph, the fish would attempt to remove the dye by striking their body against objects.
6. Describe an interaction you’ve had with an animal that suggests the animal is intelligent or self-aware. What questions does this interaction raise?
Student answers will vary. I believe my cat is intelligent because she understands how to open doors. Whenever a door is closed that she would like to open, she reaches for the handle. For doors with locks/deadbolts, she will reach for the lock before trying to open the door. If she only reached for the door handle on these specific doors, I would not consider this a sign of intelligence. However, because she is able to identify which doors have a different mechanism and opening procedure, I believe that this shows that she is able to recognize the differences in each door and can remember which doors are different. While I believe she is intelligent, I am not sure if she is self-aware. Her ability to differentiate doors does not link to an ability to recognize herself. I think that there might be different ways to measure intelligence.
7. In your opinion, is self-awareness a requirement for intelligence? Explain your answer.
Student answers will vary. I believe that self-awareness is indicative of animal intelligence. For an animal to recognize itself, it needs to be able to distinguish itself from other organisms of the same species. This means the animal needs to recognize its own unique traits and see how they differ from the traits of other organisms.
Article analysis
At the start of class, students should review the different components of experimental design that they identified in “Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware.”
Students also should share their answers to the question “In your opinion, is self-awareness a requirement for animal intelligence?” Highlight the differences between student responses and have them discuss how and why definitions of intelligence vary so much.
Divide the students into five groups and provide each group with one of the following Science News and Science News Explores articles about research on nonhuman animal intelligence:
“Cockatoos can tell when they need more than one tool to swipe a snack”
“Science is just starting to understand what animals feel” (For this article, students should use only the introduction and the “Horse sense” section of the article.)
“Honeybees order numbers from left to right, a study claims”
“Bad moods could be contagious among ravens”
“Sperm whales’ clicks suggest the animals have culture”
Using their respective articles, the groups will answer the following questions.
1. What was the study’s scientific question?
Student answers will vary. How do cockatoos use tools to accomplish a task?
2. What was the study’s hypothesis?
Student answers will vary. When presented with a challenge or task, cockatoos are capable of identifying which tools they need and can use them in the necessary order to accomplish a task.
3. What were the study’s independent variables?
Student answers will vary. The collection of tools provided to the cockatoos and the challenge or task given to the cockatoos are the study’s independent variables.
4. What were the study’s dependent variables?
Student answers will vary. The tools the cockatoos selected for each task and the order in which the tools were used by the cockatoos are the study’s dependent variables.
5. What were the study’s results?
Student answers will vary. The cockatoos were able to assess the challenge or task presented to them and correctly identify which tools they needed to complete the task. The cockatoos were also able to discern which tools were needed for each portion of the task and use them in the correct order. The cockatoos also developed different strategies for using the available tools, either bringing only the tools necessary for the task or transporting all of their tools together to each task.
6. Did the article clearly define an aspect of intelligence? If so, how did the writer define that aspect of intelligence? If the writer did not give a definition, define an aspect of intelligence based on the article.
Student answers will vary. The article did not clearly define an aspect of intelligence. Based on the article, one aspect of intelligence is the ability of an animal to use multiple tools as part of a tool kit in order to accomplish a task.
7. What evidence from the article supports that the study is investigating an aspect of intelligence?
Student answers may vary. At the beginning of the article, the authors draw a comparison between using individual tools and using tool kits. The article compares chimpanzees, an animal capable of using tool kits, to otters and crows, which can use tools but are not yet known to use tool kits. By comparing chimpanzees to otters and crows, the article is suggesting that this difference in ability may be related to intelligence as chimpanzees are considered an intelligent species.
8. Why do you think the article implied or clearly defined an aspect of animal intelligence in the way that it did?
Student answers will vary. The article likely implied that intelligence was related to tool kit use because tool kit use was the focus of the study. The article indicates that not all species capable of tool use are also capable of using a tool kit. By making the ability to use a tool kit an indicator of intelligence, scientists are able to this aspect of intelligence to note differences between species.
9. How might our experiences affect how we define intelligence? Why does this matter?
Student answers will vary. A person’s experience with an animal might be limited to one interaction with one member of a species. While this interaction might provide clues about an animal’s intelligence, it might not provide enough information and context to accurately shape our opinion on the intelligence. For example, if I were to observe a pig rolling in the mud, I might think that the pig is a dirty and unintelligent animal. However, my observation of the pig is limited to one behavior and does not take anything else into consideration, including why this behavior might be beneficial to a pig, giving me a potentially misguided view on the pig’s intelligence. Having a misguided view on the intelligence of an animal may affect how researchers design their research studies and may create biased results.
10. How might knowledge of a species affect how we define intelligence?
Student answers will vary. Knowledge of a species and its environment can help shape observations and give a more accurate view on whether a behavior indicates intelligence. Continuing with the pig example, if I had more knowledge of pig behaviors, I would know that mud can help pigs prevent sunburns, and it keep parasites off pigs. A belief that pigs are dirty and not intelligent comes from misconceptions about their behaviors and results from the human belief that mud is dirty. With background knowledge about the animal, my personal experience of watching a pig roll in the mud is less likely to influence my opinion about pig intelligence.
11. Should the definition of intelligence be different from species to species? Why or why not?
Student answers may vary. The definition of intelligence should be different from species to species because animals are highly varied and live in a wide variety of environments. The ability to use tool kits might be necessary to the survival of cockatoos and chimpanzees, but other animals might not need to use tool kits to survive. For these animals, other abilities could be considered markers of intelligence.
12. Write a working definition of intelligence.
Student answers may vary. Intelligence is the ability of an animal to adapt and solve problems in its environment and considers a wide variety of animal behaviors. While self-awareness might be an indicator of intelligence, animal intelligence is not limited to specific behaviors and actions and the ways an animal displays intelligence can vary from species to species.
Poster production
After each group has answered questions about their assigned Science News article, students will create a poster that can be presented to the class during the activity’s extension or be put on display in the classroom. Student posters should include a description of the experimental design from their assigned research article, a definition of intelligence and an explanation of how experiences might shape a person’s definition of intelligence. The students also should explain why different criteria might be used to define intelligence in different species.
If this poster is to be graded, provide the students with a rubric before they start their posters.
Extension: poster presentations As an extension, students can present their posters during the following class period.