Animal cognition

While I was up in Wisconsin, I went to my favorite used bookstore (Wm. Caxton, Ltd. - Ellison Bay; check it out!) and bought a number of books. One of them was Animal Minds by Donald R. Griffin. Griffin is the guy who discovered echolocation by bats, a classic example of a scientist able to put himself in the world of the animal he's studying. In The Question of Animal Awareness - which I also have - Griffin made a case for animals having thoughts and emotions like humans. He carries that further in Animal Minds.

This sort of speculation used to be verboten in animal behavior, primarily because of the influence of behaviorists such as B. F. Skinner. Such thoughts were labeled "anthropomorphism" and as an ethologist, it was the worst crime one could be accused of. But behaviorists such as Skinner didn't pay much attention to evolution, and that oversight led to some huge errors. Humans, as products of evolution, should expect that other animals closely related to us should exhibit the same characteristics as we do. And if there's any selective value in consciousness (and it seems that there is) then we should not be surprised to find it in animals even rather distantly related to humans - even animals such as insects.

I haven't finished the book yet (I got distracted by The Pacific - the companion book to the HBO series, which gives the history of WWII through the eyes of Marines, among others), but I have to say I endorse this view. Another book, just out, is Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg which makes a very strong case for animal cognition in birds. Alex was the famous African Grey Parrot adopted by Irene, who studied his behavior for years. He clearly showed signs of self-awareness and insight.

Think about this as you play with your pet cat or dog.

Mike