Submitted by Bony_Geese t3_y3hhf2 in askscience
koreth t1_isc0y56 wrote
Reply to comment by dbrodbeck in Do crickets respond to TV’s and video audio, with their own sounds? by Bony_Geese
> You can study animal intelligence, but it’s complicated.
I’ve read that a recurring problem with research into reptile intelligence has been that the experiments are often based on experiments on mammal intelligence and don’t take into account biological differences that cause reptiles to respond differently. The example I’ve seen mentioned is that ambient temperature affects reptile behavior more (and differently) than it affects mammal behavior, meaning an intelligence test given in a cool air-conditioned room might underestimate a lizard’s intelligence level.
dbrodbeck t1_isc2uqj wrote
That paper I linked sort of talks about such things.
You have to look at the animal's life history, its evolutionary history, its brain etc. It's a very interdisciplinary thing. I'm a psychologist, but I'm also quite comfortable with zoologists and neuroscientists (to the point where I teach that stuff as well).
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