Chapter 9 - 1

Chapter 9

Prose Summary Questions

01 Zoology

Intelligence in Dogs

Nearly all pet owners believe that their animal companion has a personality of some sort. Although it is clear that animals act differently, it remains unclear if pets are capable of reasoning.

A number of studies have been conducted in the past several years that suggest that animals are, in fact, quite-intelligent, but are nonetheless influenced heavily by the presence of their owners.

A recent case studying the cognitive ability of dogs was performed by researchers at a university in Budapest. It revealed that canines are incredibly able thinkers under the right circumstances.

The study took a sampling of forty-two-adult dogs of varying ages and breeds. There were no limitations on the selection of the dogs except that they had to enjoy playing with toys.

Each dog was brought into a room with a researcher, who would place a ball under several small pots and show the dog which pots did not contain the ball.

The pots would then be shuffled around on a surface. In this first, round of the study, the researcher would occasionally pause and pay attention to one of the pots that did not contain the ball.

He or she would look at the pot, stare at the dog, and then go back to shuffling. In most cases, the dogs picked out the pot to which the researcher gave special attention, not the pot with the ball underneath it.

In the second round, the same dogs were placed in a room with the same pots. However, in this second round, the pots’ movement was controlled with wires, and no human was visible.

Once again, the pots not containing the ball would be revealed and the pots-would then be shuffled. With no visible human cues, most dogs in the second round were able to quickly pick out the pot containing the ball.

Researchers concluded from this experiment that dogs were capable of deductive reasoning. Since the dogs were capable of picking out the correct pot in the absence of a human, researchers concluded that they had the ability to make deductions and solve simple problems.

Other animals known for their remarkable intelligence, such as chimpanzees and grey parrots, have displayed similar reasoning abilities. The inclination to be influenced by researchers, however, suggests that the dogs are social animals as well and are open to being taught. The dogs’ behavior was strikingly similar to that of infants, who possess basic problem-solving abilities but are strongly influenced by cues from their parents.

While the study is by no means conclusive, it does suggest that the domesticated animals people keep as pets are capable of thoughtful analysis.

This analytical ability, however, may not always be readily apparent in the presence of humans, since dogs are influenced heavily by the behavior of humans.

Furthermore, the study suggests that animals may be more psychologically advanced than we have traditionally thought. Clearly, further research will be necessary to determine the extent of animal intelligence.