18
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Paw
Prints
Jodi Schneider McNamee
Columnist
Self-awareness
and pets
A lot of research has been
built up around self-aware-
ness 4 the ability to recog-
nize the self as distinct from
the environment. It9s having
consciousness and knowl-
edge of the self as an indi-
vidual. Humans have self-
awareness and we9re able
to recognize our body, our
feelings, and our thoughts as
our own.
But an unsettling ques-
tion has hounded human-
ity for generations: Are we
alone in our self-awareness;
do other animals have a
sense of self, too?
Because you can9t ask
animals what they think
about, the classic way to
study self-awareness in
animals is with the mirror
test developed by Gordon
Gallup, Jr. in 1970. To con-
duct the test, an animal9s
body is secretly marked, for
example by placing odorless
red dye on the face, and then
the animal is given access to
a mirror. If he understands
he is looking at himself and
not another animal, he might
touch the mark while look-
ing in the mirror or turn his
body to better see the mark9s
reflection.
That would indicate self-
recognition, which hints at
self-awareness.
Self-recognition in a
mirror may seem obvious
to humans, but it requires
cognitive sophistication. We
are not born with the abil-
ity to recognize ourselves in
mirrors. Young infants may
be fascinated by their reflec-
tion, but they view this as a
social interaction with what
appears to be another baby.
Somewhere between the age
of 18 and 24 months, babies
begin to understand that they
are looking at themselves in
a mirror.
Over the years many
psychology experts have
used the <mirror test= to
determine whether an ani-
mal is self-aware to the
level that humans are. Only
a few animal species have
passed the test. Surprisingly,
dogs are not one of them.
Elephants, dolphins, orcas,
chimpanzees, orangutans,
and European magpies have
passed the reflection test.
Pigs haven9t passed it, but
they can use their reflection
to locate food that9s placed
behind them. Surprisingly,
gorillas have not passed the
test, and this may be because
gorillas consider eye contact
an aggressive gesture and
normally try to avoid look-
ing each other in the face.
At least one specific
gorilla, Koko, did pass the
test.
Many dogs, cats, birds,
and even reptiles like liz-
ards may react oddly when
they see their own reflec-
tion, either trying to play
with their reflection or
even attacking it. Cats also
haven9t passed the mir-
ror test, and it seems that
they have the most consis-
tently violent reaction to
seeing themselves.
When they see their
reflection, they think they9re
seeing another cat. Because
cats tend to be territorial,
they may react by puffing
themselves up and trying to
defend their territory from
the new intruder.
Many people are puzzled
by the fact that dogs seem to
ignore images of themselves
reflected in a mirror. This
lack of understanding seems
surprising, considering the
other complex mental and
social skills dogs possess.
Dogs are highly intelligent,
extremely social, and fit
right in with human house-
holds, even to the extent
of voluntarily learning to
recognize the meaning of
human words.
Anyone who saw the 60
Minutes segment on bor-
der collies knows that these
clever dogs are extremely
attentive to the needs of their
pet parents. One collie had
a large collection of about
1,000 stuffed toys that he
could retrieve on demand.
It suggests that the dog has
a clear grasp of his compan-
ions9 intentions, hinting that
a capacity for self-awareness
is not unthinkable.
When young puppies
encounter mirrors for the
first time, they treat the
image as if it is another dog.
They may bark at it or give
a little bow and an invitation
to play as if they are encoun-
tering a real dog and engag-
ing in a social interaction.
However, after a short while
they lose interest. As adults
they often seem to treat their
reflections as if they don9t
see themselves or as if it9s of
no consequence.
The conclusion that
researchers drew from the
fact that dogs fail the mark
and mirror test is that dogs
lack self-awareness, and
thus consciousness. Another
conclusion that could be
drawn is that dogs recognize
that that is their own reflec-
tion, but they are simply not
as vain and concerned with
their appearance as higher
primates.
Dog-lovers complain that
the mirror test favors visual
animals like primates but
makes it difficult for dogs,
which are more focused on
auditory and olfactory cues.
Humans are visual crea-
tures; we experience the
world primarily through
sight. Dogs do not. A dog9s
sense of smell is his main
gateway to the world. This
led Roberto Cazzolla Gatti,
a researcher at Tomsk State
University in Russia, to
hypothesize that scent may
be the window to self-
recognition and possibly
self-awareness in dogs. He
developed the sniff test of
self-recognition and found
that dogs seemed to recog-
nize whether an odor was
their own.
This sniff-test could
change the way some exper-
iments on animal behavior
are validated.
Gatti said, <I believe that
dogs and other animals,
being much less sensitive to
visual stimuli than humans
and many apes, cannot pass
the mirror test because of
the sensory modality cho-
sen by the investigator to
test self-awareness. This
PHOTO BY JODI SCHNEIDER MCNAMEE
This conure gets excited to see
what she thinks is another bird.
is not necessarily due to
the absence of this cogni-
tive ability in some animal
species.=
Real. Interesting. Podcasts.
BRENT MCGREGOR • JACKK M C G O W A N • L A N E JACOBSON
• LEN B A B B • C R I S C O N V E R S SE E • RICK
R I C K SCHWERTFEGER
SC
•
C A R L O S CONSTANZO
NZZO • DR.
D LORISSA A HINES
H I N E S • GREG WALKER
• BRENT MCGREGOR
G O R • JACK
ACK MCGO
MCGOWAN N • LEN
L BABBB • L A N E
JACOBSON • CRIS
ISS C CONVERSE
ER • K S C H W E R T F E G E R •
RICK STEBBE R • D R . L O R
• CARLOS
C A R CONSTANNZ O
• G R E G W A L K E R • BRENT
B R E N T MCGRE
M C G R E G O R • J A C K MCGOW
CGOWAN
RunningIronReport.com
ingIro
i
ingIronR
n
g
I
r
o
n
R
e
epor
p
o
r
• LEN
ENN B BA
BABB
ABB B • LANE
L A ANE
NE JACOBSON
NE
J A ACO
JA
C CO O OBS
OB B SON
SO ON N • CRIS
C CR R I IS S CONVERSE
CONV
C CO O ON VER RS E • R RICK
on iTunes
S C H W E R TFEGER
FEGER Available
• RICK STEBER
• DR. LORISSA HINES
HIN
Craig Rullman
|
Jim Cornelius
WHY DO COMPLETELY IN-CANAL
HEARING AIDS WORK BETTER?
• Virtually invisible
• Fit closer to the eardrum providing superior sound
• Better hearing in background noise
• Stay put for active lifestyles
Completely In-Canal, Discreet Hearing Aids
Are Our Specialty
— We Accept All Insurance Plans —
541-317-1265 | 1625 NE 2nd St. | Bend, OR
Sisters Dental
is uniting with our neighbor
Everson Family
Dentistry!
Increased & More Flexible Hygiene Appointments
Expanded Dental Care Services
Same Compassionate Dental Team!
541-549-9486 | www.sistersdental.com
Trevor Frideres D . M . D .
Greg Everson D . M . D .
This ad sponsored by The Nugget Newspaper