[psych, video] Much Cognition, So Wow

[siderea]

I am not quite sure what this shows, but I am fascinated by it. (Note, almost entirely visual.)

Click to view

(If anybody would like to contribute a description of the video for the visually impaired in the comments, that would be great

Comments

Description

[alexx_kay]

A dog walking in a wooded area has in its mouth a large, solid stick, perhaps four feet long. It approaches a wooden walkway -- with railings -- about two feet wide. Unsurprisingly, the stick bangs into the railings, and the dog cannot progress. The dog turns and looks at the camera with confusion. The camera person passes the dog and steps onto the walkway, encouraging the dog to follow. The dog approaches and, again, bangs the stick on the railings. Beat. He then backs away and looks like he wants to go around the walkway, but the undergrowth seems too thick. He returns to the walkway entrance and (I think) tries to lift his head up to get the stick over the blockage. It doesn't work (though it might have if he'd persisted). Then he comes in again, lower, and tries pushing the stick up... but he just can't get it over the railing with all four paws on the ground. In frustration, he turns away (to the right) and the left end of the stick slides over the top of the railing, then falls down inside the walkway. As he turns

Re: Description

[alexx_kay]

In writing this out, I notice that both the almost-solution and the actual solution involved banging the left end of the stick against a fence post in a manner that did not, ultimately, stop the stick from moving.

Re: Description

[siderea]

I think it's a bridge, not just a walkway. Those uniform green leafy plants on the ground? I'm pretty sure that's skunk cabbage, and that's a swamp. I wouldn't walk out into what looks like a field of skunk cabbage, either, unless maybe I were wearing waders.

Also, the dog doesn't just turn the stick to have a narrower profile, he angles his head such that the right end is higher than the railing. So it's on two diagonals, one front-back, and one up-down.

[heron61]

That's very cool.

From the articles (all from mass media rather than specialist journals) I've read, it looks like research into canine intelligence and socialization was neglected for several decades and is now a fairly hot topic, in part because of how much they show similar traits to humans, since they've lived with and depended upon humans for more than 10,000 years.

This video also got me thinking about the recent experiment with giving mice human glial cells, given that dogs also lack human-like glial cells, it's pretty clear that they'd also become significantly smarter. Of course, I have no idea if a dog with the intelligence of a monkey (which is my guess of what you'd get) would be a socially viable creature or a confused and unhappy mess.

[squirrelitude]

Hah, neat that you've seen this too -- I was a little worried that the dog had been trained to do this, but it sounds like this explanation is not required. :-)

[pamelina]

That is so cool! Both the things are so cool!

I have always admired people who can play an instrument, with my admiration multiplied for folks who can play multiple instruments. Y'know the saying about patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time? I can do that! But how much more complex is playing an instrument--doing complex fingering with your left hand AT THE SAME TIME as you do DIFFERENT COMPLEX things with your right hand! Amazing! Incredible!

Yet so many people do it so often, it's doesn't seem to be admired as much as people who can do the silly human trick of rubbing their tummies while patting their heads.

I wonder if what we're learning about the neuroscience of learning will improve our ability to teach/learn things like playing an instrument? I hope so!