Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Signs of Intelligence


In Intro Psych we watch "Inside the Animal Mind: Are Animals Intelligent?" In this video they discuss many examples of animals being intelligent, including chimpanzees performing arithmetic, Jane Goodall's finding of tool making and Kohler's experiment on Insight. Take a look at this recent piece in Scientific American entitled "Planning of the Apes: Zoo Chimp Plots Rock Attacks on Visitors." It explains the recent story of a chimpanzee in a Sweden zoo who demonstrated intelligence by collecting & throwing rocks at them. This behavior requires planning for the future. They also explain the link between testosterone and aggression and some other examples of intelligence.