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1 results

  • 17 - Animal Intelligence

  • from Part IV - Biology of Intelligence
  • Edited by Robert J. Sternberg, Cornell University, New York
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Intelligence
    Published online:
    13 December 2019
    Print publication:
    16 January 2020, pp 397-427

  • Summary

    The ability to assess the intelligence of other species has been constrained because it is not always easy to communicate to other species what we require of them. Furthermore, we tend to define the tasks with procedures designed for us rather than for the species in question. The appropriate assessment of animal intelligence is important, however, because it has demonstrated that although the human capacity for intelligent behavior quantitatively surpasses that of other animals, qualitatively, it is not as different as we generally believe. Furthermore, the intelligent behavior of other species demonstrates that although language and culture contribute to human intelligence, they are clearly not necessary. Finally, although we attribute certain human behavior such as unskilled gambling and cognitive dissonance to our complex social environment, the fact that other species show very similar suboptimal behavior suggests that simpler underlying processes likely are responsible for those behaviors.