Neuroscience
YES:
Plotnik JM, de Waal FBM, Reiss D. Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Published online before print October 30, 2006.
Considered an indicator of self-awareness, mirror self-recognition (MSR) has long seemed limited to humans and apes. In both phylogeny and human ontogeny, MSR is thought to correlate with higher forms of empathy and altruistic behavior. Apart from humans and apes, dolphins and elephants are also known for such capacities. After the recent discovery of MSR in dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), elephants thus were the next logical candidate species. We exposed three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to a large mirror to investigate their responses. Animals that possess MSR typically progress through four stages of behavior when facing a mirror: (i) social responses, (ii) physical inspection (e.g., looking behind the mirror), (iii) repetitive mirror-testing behavior, and (iv) realization of seeing themselves. Visible marks and invisible sham-marks were applied to the elephants' heads to test whether they would pass the litmus "mark test" for MSR in which an individual spontaneously uses a mirror to touch an otherwise imperceptible mark on its own body. Here, we report a successful MSR elephant study and report striking parallels in the progression of responses to mirrors among apes, dolphins, and elephants. These parallels suggest convergent cognitive evolution most likely related to complex sociality and cooperation.
NO:
Moti Nissani, Donna Hoefler-Nissani. Absence of Mirror Self-Referential Behavior in Two Asian Elephants.
To date, one investigation failed to find mirror self-referential behavior in Asian elephants while another reported positive results, a contradiction which could, among other things, be ascribed to the poor visual acuity of elephants. To resolve this contradiction, the present study of mirror self-referential behavior in two captive Asian elephants bypasses the traditional mark test, relying instead on the elephants’ response to a far more visually conspicuous object. In this study, neither elephant engaged in self-referential behavior in front of a mirror. Our simple experimental paradigm could serve as a more convenient alternative to the widely used traditional mark test, could meet some methodological objections which have been raised against the traditional mark test, and could profitably augment the traditional test in difficult or controversial cases.
- Cross-cultural Reflections On The Mirror Self-recognition Test
The performance of young children on the 'mirror self-recognition test' varies hugely across cultures, a new study has shown. This is the test that involves surreptitiously putting a mark on a child's forehead and then seeing how they react...
- Extras
Eye-catching studies that didn't make the final cut this fortnight: Breast feeding does not affect children's intelligence. Elephants recognise themselves in the mirror. Most psychologists asked to share their data failed to do so (PDF). The stigmatisation...
- Spindle Neurons In Macaques?
Spindle neurons, or Von Economo neurons (VENs), are a unique type of large, bipolar neuron found primarily in layer Vb in the anterior cingulate cortex and the frontoinsular cortex of humans.1 In 1999, Nimchinsky and colleagues discovered that among...
- Spindle Neurons In Elephants And Dolphins: Convergent Evolution In Large-brained Mammals?
Fig. 1 (Hakeem et al., 2009). Photomicrographs of VENs in the brain of the African elephant. A: VENs in frontoinsular cortex (area FI). Scale = 25 μm. Spindle neurons, or Von Economo neurons (VENs), are a unique type of large, bipolar neuron found in...
- Recognition At The Mirror
From The New York Times:Who's That Strange Monkey in the Mirror? By NICHOLAS WADE The New York Times Published: July 26, 2005 Humans, the great apes and, probably, dolphins share an intellectual skill unusual in the animal world: they recognize...
Neuroscience
Are Elephants Self-Aware?
YES:
Plotnik JM, de Waal FBM, Reiss D. Self-recognition in an Asian elephant. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. Published online before print October 30, 2006.
Considered an indicator of self-awareness, mirror self-recognition (MSR) has long seemed limited to humans and apes. In both phylogeny and human ontogeny, MSR is thought to correlate with higher forms of empathy and altruistic behavior. Apart from humans and apes, dolphins and elephants are also known for such capacities. After the recent discovery of MSR in dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), elephants thus were the next logical candidate species. We exposed three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) to a large mirror to investigate their responses. Animals that possess MSR typically progress through four stages of behavior when facing a mirror: (i) social responses, (ii) physical inspection (e.g., looking behind the mirror), (iii) repetitive mirror-testing behavior, and (iv) realization of seeing themselves. Visible marks and invisible sham-marks were applied to the elephants' heads to test whether they would pass the litmus "mark test" for MSR in which an individual spontaneously uses a mirror to touch an otherwise imperceptible mark on its own body. Here, we report a successful MSR elephant study and report striking parallels in the progression of responses to mirrors among apes, dolphins, and elephants. These parallels suggest convergent cognitive evolution most likely related to complex sociality and cooperation.
NO:
Moti Nissani, Donna Hoefler-Nissani. Absence of Mirror Self-Referential Behavior in Two Asian Elephants.
To date, one investigation failed to find mirror self-referential behavior in Asian elephants while another reported positive results, a contradiction which could, among other things, be ascribed to the poor visual acuity of elephants. To resolve this contradiction, the present study of mirror self-referential behavior in two captive Asian elephants bypasses the traditional mark test, relying instead on the elephants’ response to a far more visually conspicuous object. In this study, neither elephant engaged in self-referential behavior in front of a mirror. Our simple experimental paradigm could serve as a more convenient alternative to the widely used traditional mark test, could meet some methodological objections which have been raised against the traditional mark test, and could profitably augment the traditional test in difficult or controversial cases.
- Cross-cultural Reflections On The Mirror Self-recognition Test
The performance of young children on the 'mirror self-recognition test' varies hugely across cultures, a new study has shown. This is the test that involves surreptitiously putting a mark on a child's forehead and then seeing how they react...
- Extras
Eye-catching studies that didn't make the final cut this fortnight: Breast feeding does not affect children's intelligence. Elephants recognise themselves in the mirror. Most psychologists asked to share their data failed to do so (PDF). The stigmatisation...
- Spindle Neurons In Macaques?
Spindle neurons, or Von Economo neurons (VENs), are a unique type of large, bipolar neuron found primarily in layer Vb in the anterior cingulate cortex and the frontoinsular cortex of humans.1 In 1999, Nimchinsky and colleagues discovered that among...
- Spindle Neurons In Elephants And Dolphins: Convergent Evolution In Large-brained Mammals?
Fig. 1 (Hakeem et al., 2009). Photomicrographs of VENs in the brain of the African elephant. A: VENs in frontoinsular cortex (area FI). Scale = 25 μm. Spindle neurons, or Von Economo neurons (VENs), are a unique type of large, bipolar neuron found in...
- Recognition At The Mirror
From The New York Times:Who's That Strange Monkey in the Mirror? By NICHOLAS WADE The New York Times Published: July 26, 2005 Humans, the great apes and, probably, dolphins share an intellectual skill unusual in the animal world: they recognize...