As any Labrador dog owner will know (and I am one) they communicate, we just don’t have a common frame of communication. My mutt knows about 20 objects by name and can respond to well over 10 commands. Bizarrely she responds better when there is the incentive of a treat, who knew? Dogs show a high degree of understanding of human commands, but it is repetitive training /reward that drives this behaviour. While my mutt is well able to ask to be brought for a walk by dragging her lead out of the press, she can’t verbalise that request other than by getting her lead or by standing at the front door and barking – which is reasonably effective communication it must be said. At times you wonder who is training whom!
Animal intelligence is a fascinating subject. Sentience is the simplest form of cognition, it’s an awareness of stimuli without association or interpretation. While animals are undoubtedly sentient are they conscious in terms of being able to have subjective perceptual experiences? Animals from Rooks to Rats have demonstrated huge problem-solving abilities when presented with problems in mazes, but is this a sign of intelligence? Octopuses demonstrate incredible levels of problem-solving skills, they have a completely different structure to their brains with effectively a decentralised nervous system with roughly two-thirds of their neurons located in their arms, not their head. Many mammals and birds use tools, tool use was formerly considered to be a solely human behaviour. The great apes in particular at times display behaviours that are almost identical to human behaviour, certain Gorillas and Chimpanzees have been taught to use sign language or to communicate using picture boards, but what does this mean about their intelligence?
If we take it a step further in terms of including self-awareness as a fundamental element of intelligence are animals self-aware? That’s a slightly more difficult question, ask anyone who has ever laughed at dog barking at its reflection the first time it sees itself in a mirror. Initially they think it’s another dog in their environment, however look at a dog’s reaction and surprise when their owner comes into the reflection? Many scientists still don’t accept that the dog recognises itself, but I would harbour genuine doubts about that. Self-awareness is another thing that humans used to think was their sole purview, but that is proving not to be the case.
Enter the Avian Language Experiment, or Alex for short. Alex was a grey parrot bought at a year old in a pet shop and subject of a thirty-year experiment by animal psychologist Irene Pepperberg. She formed an incredible close relationship with the bird over 30 years.
Alex could recognise both colours and numbers, by 1999 he could identify 50 different objects and recognize quantities up to six. He was able on request to distinguish seven colours and five shapes. He also demonstrated an understanding of relative concepts such as bigger and smaller. The debate about his level of self-awareness comes from the introduction of a mirror into his cage. When he was shown an object he knew, he could label its shape and colour correctly, e.g. the blue triangle. At this stage he had a vocabulary of over 100 words. When the researchers put a mirror into his cage for the first time, upon looking at his own reflection he asked the question “What colour?” as he had not been taught the word grey up to that point. He recognised the fact that his colour in the reflection was not one he had in his vocabulary and wanted to know what colour he was, so he asked the question, learning the word grey after a couple of attempts. This made him the first non-human animal to have vocalised a question. To date primates have not bene recorded as asking a comparable question, they make statements like “I’m hungry” but thus far have in scientific studies there is no record of a primate making the same leap into asking a direct question. Alex was really unique, his appreciation and understanding of human communication extended further, when he got tired of being tested, he would say “Wanna go back”, meaning he’d like to return to his cage. He also displayed a sophisticated understanding of human emotions, recognising when the researchers showed signs of annoyance or frustration by saying “I’m sorry” as if he perceived his behaviour was partly to blame as the cause of their frustration. He also showed some comprehension of personal pronouns and used different language when referring to himself or others, indicating he understood the concept and the difference between “I” and “you” further evidence in his language usage that he had a sense of self and self-awareness.
Alex died on September 6, 2007, at age 31, his last sentence was “You be good. I love you. See you tomorrow.” This was something he said habitually to the researchers at the end of the day. Did he actually understand the intent behind what he was saying or was he merely repeating statements he has heard previously in the correct context? Who knows for sure but as a final sentence, it’s a very fitting epitaph.
There is an ethical corollary if we accept animals are both intelligent and self-aware to a certain extent, do they deserve some form of basic rights? A Pandora’s box opened right there, answers on a postcard please……
For anyone interested, “Alex and Me” written by Irene Pepperberg ISBN 10 1921372729 / ISBN 13 978-1921372728