Animals That Make Believe
In his book Cosmos, Carl Sagan wrote, “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.” In the photo above, Koko the gorilla plays with a doll, apparently pretending to nurse it. But can non-human animals really pretend? Do they have the ability to imagine? Can animals carry [...]
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Animal Imagination: The Dog That Pretended to Feed a Frog (and Other Tales)
September 7th, 2011 |
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Can dogs pretend? This is the question I asked yesterday, prompted by Sheril’s story: …this afternoon Happy did something unusual. She carried a toy frog over to her water bowl, and gently put it down as pictured. Given its orientation, I’m skeptical that her placement was an accident. The frog continues to sit like this [...]
Keep reading »Can Dogs Pretend?
September 6th, 2011 |
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Earlier today, friend-of-the-blog Sheril Kirshenbaum (blog, twitter) asked a question on her blog, Culture of Science: Do Dogs Play “Make Believe?”: …this afternoon Happy did something unusual. She carried a toy frog over to her water bowl, and gently put it down as pictured. Given its orientation, I’m skeptical that her placement was an accident. [...]
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