填空题
.Animal Intelligence
A. It is known that some animals have intelligence as human beings do, when some are even cleverer than people. Personally speaking, I think it is not bad for us. Since they have intelligence in some aspects we may be unfamiliar with, we might as well make good use of it. To take full advantage of animals' intelligence, we may command them to do something for us instead of doing it in person, which saves us much time. Of course, we need to use something they're interested in as exchange. Sometimes they can be careful bargainers, you know.
B. The main purpose of animal intelligence study is to learn about the origins of humans' intelligence by studying the mental processes of species perceived as lower. In order to understand how human became "smart" we need to understand the processes of association and learning in other animals and how they may have led to our development of art, religion or mathematics. From the study of animal behavior, knowledge can be gained about the events that constitute a learning experience. The knowledge can be applied to other areas of learning and experience in relation to intelligence. Also, we can distinguish animal learning processes from human. Finally, we can study learning processes without the use of man's ability to communicate with an elaborate symbol system or language.
C. Dr. Goodwin hosts three top animal researchers. Dr. Sally Boysen is a professor of psychology and director of the Chimpanzee Center at Ohio State University. Her work focuses on animal cognition. Dr. Stan Kuczaj is professor and chair of the Psychology Department at the University of Southern Mississippi. He works with killer whales and dolphins and studies dolphin communication and problem-solving abilities. Dr. Irene Pepperberg is probably the world's best-known researcher into bird intelligence, and she and her African grey parrot, Alex, come to The Infinite Mind from the University of Arizona. Alex is heard throughout the scientists' discussion, sometimes answering questions and sometimes butting in.
D. Examples of some smart animal behavior the scientists have witnessed include killer whales blowing air bubbles out of their blowholes in order to move a disc they were playing with; an older chimp, raised in captivity, spontaneously helping a new chimp with poor eyesight navigate her way around the chimp center; and some parrots' ability to answer questions about size, color, shape and difference between objects. Some of the parrots' abilities are similar to that of a very young human. Chimpanzees have been shown to be sensitive to the feelings of others. When they perceive a threat they display behavior indicating "danger" for the benefit of other chimps who can't see the threat. Dolphins show planning behavior. When they have to pick up weights placed close together, they do it one by one. But when the weights are spaced far apart, they take as many as they can at once for maximum efficiency.
E. The scientists discuss the issue of whether animals can recognize themselves in mirrors. So far, chimps are the only species that can do this. Dr. Pepperberg and Kuczaj are testing their birds and dolphins with mirrors right now, but don't have conclusive results yet, though the birds and dolphins are interested in the mirror and can use information from it.
F. There are many connections between animals and humans. The training methods Dr. Pepperberg uses with Alex and the other birds are also used in work with developmentally delayed or disabled children. The same is true for some of the chimps, who are able to make up spontaneous games using numbers just as human children do. Dolphins, too, have been used in therapy with autistic children.
G. So what still differentiates animals from humans? The scientists disagree. Dr. Kuczaj thinks that human language sets us apart, that while other species have their own communication systems and may even be able to learn aspects of our language, when it comes down to it, their system do not compare to ours for sheer symbolic richness. On the other hand, Dr. Boysen is planning to begin teaching chimps to read. She thinks that what sets humans apart is the way we purposefully transmit information from generation to generation, so that one individual's contributions become accessible to all.
H. Dr. Pepperberg points out that we should appreciate how intelligent animals are within their own ecological niche. Dolphins, for example, can echolocate, or "see" objects by bouncing sonic waves off of them. This is very sophisticated and something that human can't do. So intelligence is not necessarily a matter of better or worse, more or less. As we see more parallels and differences between us and various species we will come to a better understanding of what makes each species unique.
I. Warren Eckstein, an internationally known pet and animal expert, is probably the nation's leading pet therapist. He is the author of the best-selling
How To Get Your Dog To Do What You Want and hosts a nationally syndicated radio show,
The Pet Show. Mr. Eckstein says that animals are as intelligent as we allow them to be. Much of his work focuses on trying to get people to stimulate their pets more and making them aware of how pets are affected by their environment. He believes absolutely that animals can experience grief, for both human and animal companions, and that they are prone to depression or hyperactivity depending on their owners' moods and behavior. For example, Lily Tomlin's pet terrier started manifesting a variety of strange personalities when Ms. Tomlin was constantly rehearsing different characters for her one-woman Broadway show a few years back.
J. People need to establish continuity and stability for their pets. Events like a divorce can be just as disruptive to pets as they are to children. Eckstein has seen many nasty custody battles over pets. He also sees more stressed-out dogs and cats than he used to, and more older dogs reverting to puppy behaviors to get much-needed attention from their owners. Eckstein takes calls from people with a variety of pet problems, including tail-chewing, fear of thunderstorms, and strange behavior in the neighbor's apartment. He discusses some celebrity pet problems, like when David Letterman's dogs had trouble relocating to New York City from Malibu.