AN ALLEGED HUMAN/ANIMAL DIFFERENCE
- Humans recall past & anticipate and plan for the future
- Animals are stuck in the present--they are only of aware of what's going on now
Is that true?
Does it matter ethically? Does it make human llfe better? Does it make human death worse?
_________________________
RECALLING PAST
Other terms for it...
- autobiographical memory
- active recall
- episodic memory
- looking back
- time travel
Examples
- recalling your high school graduation
- writing a memoir, recalling events
- using recall strategically
- looking for my car in Airline garage
- answering a quiz question
- deciding whether to eat leftovers in your fridge--when did you put them there?
Contrast with other kinds of memory (that animals obviously have)
- I can ride a bike ... dog heels
- Knowing where your car is ....Clark's nutcracker knows where the seeds are--Inside the Animal Mind I, 15:11-17:48-
_________________________
EVIDENCE FOR RECALL IN ANIMALS
Chimps
DeWaal p. 210: when they're going to a fig tree they've visited before they get up early, walk in the dark(which they avoid), get upset about noisy walking. Most plausible explanation: they recall past visits to the fig tree.
Western scrub jays
Nicky Clayton's research (De Waal p. 211):
_________________________
THINKING ABOUT PAST IN PETS?
_________________________
THINKING ABOUT FUTURE
Examples
- imagining what you'll be doing in 5 minutes, or an hour, or in 5 years or 50 years
- grabbing an umbrella because you think it will rain
- includes forethought, planning, anticipation
Contrast with other types of future orientation
- Squirrels hoarding nuts for the winter
- They're doing it "for the winter" (future) but are they thinking about the future?
- DeWaal (p. 215-16): behavior is just triggered by nuts + shortening of the day
How to prove that animal is thinking about future?
_________________________
SPOON TEST
Girl takes to spoon to bed at night to prepare for pudding party the next day
Two criteria (p. 213):
- "behavior should not follow directly from present needs and desires"
- "it should prepare the individual for a future situation in a different context than the current one."
Chimps
Storing a tool today for use tomorrow
Crows
_________________________
ANOTHER SIGN: SELF-RESTRAINT
Hunting Cheetah
Candy-loving chimps (p. 225)
- take now, dispenser stops adding candy
- wait, dispenser adds more every 15 seconds
_________________________
FUTURE THOUGHT IN PETS?
_________________________
QUIZ FEEDBACK
- Comments on quiz plus key at Canvas
- Over half answered question 1 (bible and Aristotle)--most did well on this
- Lowest grades were on question 5--Carruthers
- make sure you read your comments on the RRs
- when studying, use blog/slides/notes
- Ask yourself how many of the 5 questions you could have answered well
- Take more notes, ask more questions