Animals Share Metacognition Skills with Humans

Posted on September 27, 2009 by: WayCoolDogs

Recently there has been some pretty extensive studies on animal cognition by J. David Smith, Ph.D., a comparative psychologist at the University at Buffalo, who is recognized for his research and publications in the field of animal cognition. What his studies have begun to show us is that animals share functional parallels with human conscious metacognition.

What this translates to us non-scientific humans is that animals share the same abilities as all humans to “reflect upon, monitor or regulate their states of mind.” Published in the September issue of Trends in Cognitive Science (Volume 13, Issue 9), the article reviews a new and rapidly developing area of comparative inquiry. The published article describes the milestones of this particular field and its prospects for continued progress.The article states:

“…comparative psychologists have studied the question of whether or not non-human animals have knowledge of their own cognitive states by testing a dolphin, pigeons, rats, monkeys and apes using perception, memory and food-concealment paradigms.

“The field offers growing evidence that some animals have functional parallels to humans’ consciousness and to humans’ cognitive self-awareness?”.

PREVIOUS ANIMAL STUDIES

Some of the species that have been studied have been dolphins and macaque monkeys (an Old World monkey species) according to a recounting by Smith. “When uncertain, the dolphin clearly hesitated and wavered between his two possible responses,” he says, “but when certain, he swam toward his chosen response so fast that his bow wave would soak the researchers’ electronic switches.

“In sharp contrast,” he says, “pigeons in several studies have so far not expressed any capacity for metacognition. In addition, several converging studies now show that capuchin monkeys barely express a capacity for metacognition.

“This last result,” Smith says, “raises important questions about the emergence of reflective or extended mind in the primate order.

“This research area opens a new window on reflective mind in animals, illuminating its phylogenetic emergence and allowing researchers to trace the antecedents of human consciousness.”

PRINCIPAL RESULTS OF ANIMAL STUDIES

Smith and his colleagues are known for pioneering the study of metacognition in nonhuman animals with many contributions in the principal results in this area, supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Development and the National Science Foundation. These results involve the participation of Old World and New World monkeys who have been trained to use joysticks to participate in computer tasks.

The study explains that metacognition is a sophisticated human capacity linked…

To hierarchical structure in the mind (because the metacognitive executive control processes oversee lower-level cognition)

To self-awareness (because uncertainty and doubt feel so personal and subjective) and…

To declarative consciousness (because humans are conscious of their states of knowing and can declare them to others).

Therefore, Smith says, “it is a crucial goal of comparative psychology to establish firmly whether animals share humans’ metacognitive capacity. If they do, it could bear on their consciousness and self-awareness, too.”

In fact, he concludes, “Metacognition rivals language and tool use in its potential to establish important continuities or discontinuities between human and animal minds.”

SOURCE:

University at Buffalo. “Evidence Points To Conscious ‘Metacognition’ In Some Nonhuman Animals.” ScienceDaily 15 September 2009. 27 September 2009 <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090914172644.htm>.

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