BIO 331: Lecture C3 (2024-09-19): Cognition

In this lecture, we address perspectives on animal behavior that explain animal motivation by use of latent, unobservable structures. We start by exploring drive theory and the hydraulic models of drive from early ethology and use that to pivot to an introduction of cognition and the separation of the physical "brain" and the metaphorical "mind." Such a "mind" can do things like: being aware of itself in context of a larger world, be aware of the mind and motivation of others and use this information to drive its own behavior, predict future events based on past experience, and so on. We present cognition as an unobservable mechanism behind behavior, but we also discuss the risks of this approach to confounding proximate and ultimate explanations of behavior as well as the risks of false conclusions about animal intelligence due to a lack of ecological relevance in some standard tests of cognition and intelligence. Ultimately, we recognize that despite the risks, cognitive models can be formative in the process of forming research questions, and they provide one way to incorporate animal motivation into hypotheses about behavior (which would otherwise be difficult to do based on what can be outwardly observed alone).
Topic highlights:
* drive theory and motivational explanations for animal behavior [Chapter 4]
- hydraulic models of drive
- displacement behavior, redirected behavior, self-directed behavior
- repetitive, stereotyped behaviors
* cognition and the mind/body distinction
- awareness of the "self"
- theory of mind
- "mental time travel" / forecasting
* examples of apparently cognitive behavior in non-human animals (note: not an exhaustive list)
- time-place learning
- gaze following
- caching and thievery
- self and the mirror test
* risks of taking an anthropomorphic, cognitive perspective
- risk of confounding proximate mechanisms and ultimate causation
- umwelt and ecology; why should a lobster recognize itself in a mirror?
are standard tests of cognition/intelligence equally relevant to all animals?
- do we need different versions of cognition for different umwelten?
* risks of not considering cognition
- no room for "motivation"
Important terms: drive theory, displacement behavior, redirected behavior, self-directed behavior, stereotyped behaviors, cognition, theory of mind, time-place learning, gaze following, cache thievery, the mirror test, motivation
This lecture was recorded by Theodore Pavlic as part of BIO 331 (Animal Behavior) at Arizona State University.