Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Psychology 3906 Animal Cognition Dr. Dave Brodbeck Introduction • OK, the book is called ‘Cognition, Evolution and Behavior’ so, we had better know about all of the above • Now of course most of this is review… Cognition • Cognition is about mechanism • The perception, storage, processing and retrieval of information • Some internal representation of the external • Functioning isomorphisms • Not consciousness Not consciousness, but… • • • • • We do use the terms though Emotion Fear To know And indeed, perhaps one day someone will be able to study consciousness Is all complex behaviour “cognitive?” • Well it need not be • Indeed it could be a simple S-R type of thing. • The complexity of a behaviour is not necessarily an indication of complicated cognition • You knew it was coming….. In a Moth’s Ear…. • Moth Ear basically has two neurons A1 and A2 • They are not frequency sensitive, but do not respond to low frequencies Those would be some tiny Q tips….. Do Moths Have Ear Wax? • A1 is responsive to intensity • More firing with closer bat • A2 only fires with very loud sounds • A2 fires, bat must be very close Moths and Bats, Charts and Graphs • A1 on the left fires, that wing beats faster • Moth’s course corrects to 180 degrees from bat • So very and totally cool • A2, go crazy • 2 neuron ear can encode where a predator in in 3 dimensional space!!! Why does an animal behave the way it does? • • • • • • • • Cause (proximate cause) Development Function (ultimate cause) Evolution Do not mix these up! Why do birds migrate? Innate vs. learned Nature vs. nurture Approaches to the Study of Comparative Cognition • • • • Traditional or Anthropocentric approach People can do x I wonder if rats can? Probably still the most popular approach, even when people say they don’t do it.. Characteristics of the Traditional Approach • Focuses on memory, representation etc, just like in humans • The choice of the species to be studied is based primarily on convenience • The notion of a phylogenetic scale MacPhail • Probably best example is MacPhail • No differences have been found between species that cannot be explained by motivation • We must, therefore, accept H0 • Except for humans of course, we are all special.. The Synthetic Approach • This approach sees the MacPhailian ideas as illogical • Instead lets look at behaviour from an evolutionary perspective • Look at behaviour in the field • Choose species/problems based on these • Make predictions about mechanism But what about the motivation thing? • Error cancels baby • Plus, how likely is it to find a pattern of results, that fits with your hypothesis that is by dumb luck, also due to motivation • There should be patterns of results in essence Natural Selection • The Theory of Natural Selection is so simple that anyone can misunderstand it…. (Anonymous) • Charles Darwin (1809-1882) saw three problems in need of a solution. – Darwin was not the only one to see these problems BTW – Other ‘Naturalists’ were struggling with the same issues Problem the First • There is change over time in the flora and fauna of the Earth – What we would commonly call ‘evolution’ today – The fossil record showed this to be pretty clear, even to people in the mid 1800s – This was not controversial in Darwin’s time, and is not now. The Second Problem • There is a taxonomic relationship among living things – People were big into classifying stuff – It was pretty obvious that there was a relationship between different species • Different birds, different grasses, different cats etc The Third Problem • Adaptation – Different kinds of teeth for different animals, say carnivore ripping teeth and herbivore grinding teeth – Different tissues within species • Heart vs. eye etc. The Solution! • Natural Selection provides a mechanistic account of how these things occurred and shows how they are intimately related. • It is one of those ‘oh man is that ever easy, why didn’t I think of that?’ type things. How’s it work? • There is competition among living things – More are born or hatched or whatever, than survive and reproduce • Reproduction occurs with variation – This variation is heritable – Remember, there was NO genetics back then, Chuck knew, he just knew…. – Realized that is wasn’t ‘blending’ How’s it Work? • Selection Determines which individuals enter the adult breeding population – This selection is done by the environment – Those which are best suited reproduce – They pass these well suited characteristics on to their young How’s it Work? • REPRODUCTION is the key, not merely survival • If you survive to be 128 but have no kids, you are not doing as well as I am • I have reproduced… • Assuming the traits that made me successful will help them then I amore fit NOW than the 128 year old guy This lecture keeps evolving….. • Survival of the Fittest (which Chucky D NEVER said) means those who have the most offspring that reproduce • So, the answer to the trilogy of problems is: • ‘Descent with modification from a common ancestor, NOT random modification, but, modification shaped by natural selection’ Other Evolutionary Theories • Lamarckism – Inheritance of acquired characteristics • E.g., giraffes really wanted leaves, so they stretched their necks and….. • Sounds crazy, but a lot of people think this way • ‘We will all have giant heads and tiny bodies someday’ • ‘Cave swelling fish don’t use their eyes so they disappear’ • ‘We don’t use our appendix so it is disappearing’ Silly incorrect evolutionary theories and ideas • Orthogenesis – – – – There is some plan to evolution. NO WRONG INCORRECT, THANKS FOR PLAYING The idea of an ‘evolutionary ladder’ fits in here It is wrong too…… Still another silly idea • Intelligent Design • Just Creationism with a fancy name • God does not belong in a science class, any more than experiments belong in church • NOT A SCIENTIFIC THEORY How do we know if a behaviour is an adaptation? • Experimentation • Comparative method • modeling