Editing Animal cognition (section)

== Cognitive faculty by species ==
A traditionally common image is the ''[[Great chain of being|scala naturae]]'', the ladder of nature on which animals of different species occupy successively higher rungs, with humans typically at the top.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Campbell CB, Hodos W | title = The Scala naturae revisited: evolutionary scales and anagenesis in comparative psychology | journal = Journal of Comparative Psychology | volume = 105 | issue = 3 | pages = 211–21 | date = September 1991 | pmid = 1935002 | doi = 10.1037/0735-7036.105.3.211}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/05/how-animals-think/476364/ |title=How Animals Think; A new look at what humans can learn from nonhuman minds |last1=Gopnik |first1=Alison | author-link=Alison Gopnik | name-list-style = vanc |date=May 2016 |website=The Atlantic |access-date=25 April 2016}}</ref> However, there is some disagreement with the use of such a hierarchy, with some critics saying it may be necessary to understand specific cognitive capacities as adaptations to differing ecological niches.<ref>(see [[Sara Shettleworth|Shettleworth]] (1998), Reznikova 2007)).</ref> Some biologists argue that humans are not, in fact, the smartest animal, and that no animal can be characterized as the smartest, given that some animals have superior cognitive skills in certain areas.<ref>{{cite news |title=Humans are not smarter than animals - we just don't understand them |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/humans-are-not-smarter-than-animals-we-just-don-t-understand-them-9003196.html |access-date=9 November 2022 |work=The Independent |date=13 December 2013 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bräuer |first1=Juliane |last2=Hanus |first2=Daniel |last3=Pika |first3=Simone |last4=Gray |first4=Russell |last5=Uomini |first5=Natalie |title=Old and New Approaches to Animal Cognition: There Is Not "One Cognition" |journal=Journal of Intelligence |date=2 July 2020 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=28 |doi=10.3390/jintelligence8030028|pmid=32630788 |pmc=7555673 |doi-access=free}}</ref> This contrasts with evolutionary psychologists such as [[John Tooby]], who assess, based on the large list of related unique characteristics that humans do possess, that humans evolved to fill a unique "cognitive niche" and can fairly be characterized as the smartest animal.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pinker |first1=Steven |title=The cognitive niche: Coevolution of intelligence, sociality, and language |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=11 May 2010 |volume=107 |issue=supplement_2 |pages=8993–8999 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0914630107|pmid=20445094 |pmc=3024014 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Whether fairly or not, the performance of animals is often compared to that of humans on cognitive tasks. Our closest biological relatives, the [[great ape]]s, tend to perform most like humans. Among the birds, [[corvid]]s and parrots have typically been found to perform well on human-like tasks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sciencealert.com/crows-ravens-corvids-best-birds-animal-intelligence|title=13 Surprisingly Weird Reasons Why Crows And Ravens Are The Best Birds, No Question|last=Starr|first=Michelle | name-list-style = vanc |date=2017-12-31|website=ScienceAlert|language=en-gb|access-date=2020-04-04}}</ref> Some [[octopod]]es have also been shown to exhibit a number of higher-level skills such as tool use,<ref name="Defensive tool use in a coconut-car" /> but the amount of research on [[cephalopod intelligence]] is still limited.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mather|first1=Jennifer A.|last2=Kuba|first2=Michael J. | name-list-style = vanc |date=May 2013|title=The cephalopod specialties: complex nervous systems, learning and cognition|journal= Canadian Journal of Zoology|volume=91|issue=6|pages=431–449|doi=10.1139/cjz-2013-0009|bibcode=2013CaJZ...91..431M }}</ref> [[Baboon]]s have been shown to be capable of recognizing words.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Leila | last = Haghighat | name-list-style = vanc | url = https://www.nature.com/news/baboons-can-learn-to-recognize-words-1.10432 | title = Baboons can learn to recognize words; Monkeys' ability suggests that reading taps into general systems of pattern recognition | date = 12 April 2012 | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | doi = 10.1038/nature.2012.10432 | s2cid = 178872255 | doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | first = Eryn | last = Brown | name-list-style = vanc | url = https://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-word-recognition-20120413,0,5510844.story | title = Baboons can recognize written words, study finds; The monkeys don't assign meaning to them, but learn what letter combinations are common to real words, the study authors say | date = 12 April 2012 | work = [[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | first = Bruce | last = Bower | name-list-style = vanc | url = https://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/339869/title/Baboons_show_their_word_skills | title = Baboons show their word skills; Reading may stem from a visual aptitude shared by all primates | work = ScienceNews | date = 5 May 2012}}</ref>

The average bird or mammal, both usually [[endotherm]]s, have average [[Brain–body mass ratio|brain-to-body ratios]] ten times larger than a typical [[ectotherm]] vertebrate. This has contributed to a common perception amongst researchers that mammals and birds share similar "advanced" cognitive characteristics as humans, while other vertebrates such as [[Teleost|teleost fishes]] are more "primitive", which has led to them being understudied. Despite this, increasing evidence indicates that fish possess not just capabilities that cannot be explained through [[Classical conditioning|Pavlovian]] and [[Operant conditioning|operant]] conditioning alone, such as reversal learning, novel obstacle avoidance, and passing simultaneous two-choice tasks, but also even more complex capabilities such as navigational [[cognitive map]]ping,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vinepinsky |first1=Ehud |last2=Cohen |first2=Lear |last3=Perchik |first3=Shay |last4=Ben-Shahar |first4=Ohad |last5=Donchin |first5=Opher |last6=Segev |first6=Ronen |date=September 8, 2020 |title=Representation of edges, head direction, and swimming kinematics in the brain of freely-navigating fish |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=14762 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1014762V |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-71217-1 |pmid=32901058 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=7479115}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rodríguez |first1=Fernando |last2=Quintero |first2=Blanca |last3=Amores |first3=Lucas |last4=Madrid |first4=David |last5=Salas-Peña |first5=Carmen |last6=Salas |first6=Cosme |date=August 11, 2021 |title=Spatial Cognition in Teleost Fish: Strategies and Mechanisms |journal=Animals |language=en |volume=11 |issue=8 |pages=2271 |doi=10.3390/ani11082271 |issn=2076-2615 |doi-access=free|pmid=34438729 |pmc=8388456}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aellen |first1=Mélisande |last2=Burkart |first2=Judith M. |last3=Bshary |first3=Redouan |date=March 14, 2022 |title=No evidence for general intelligence in a fish |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eth.13275 |journal=Ethology |language=en |volume=128 |issue=5 |pages=424–436 |bibcode=2022Ethol.128..424A |doi=10.1111/eth.13275 |issn=0179-1613}}</ref> [[Inhibitory control|inhibitory]] [[motor control]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lucon-Xiccato |first1=Tyrone |last2=Gatto |first2=Elia |last3=Bisazza |first3=Angelo |date=October 13, 2017 |title=Fish perform like mammals and birds in inhibitory motor control tasks |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=13144 |bibcode=2017NatSR...713144L |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-13447-4 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5640690 |pmid=29030593}}</ref> and empathy enabled by [[oxytocin]] to sense fear in other fish.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Akinrinade |first1=Ibukun |last2=Kareklas |first2=Kyriacos |last3=Teles |first3=Magda C. |last4=Reis |first4=Thais K. |last5=Gliksberg |first5=Michael |last6=Petri |first6=Giovanni |last7=Levkowitz |first7=Gil |last8=Oliveira |first8=Rui F. |date=March 23, 2023 |title=Evolutionarily conserved role of oxytocin in social fear contagion in zebrafish |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq5158 |journal=Science |language=en |volume=379 |issue=6638 |pages=1232–1237 |doi=10.1126/science.abq5158 |pmid=36952426 |bibcode=2023Sci...379.1232A |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Similarly in [[reptile]]s, a 2019 review of evidence indicates they can experience numerous emotions, such as pleasure and anxiety.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=Helen |last2=Carder |first2=Gemma |last3=D'Cruze |first3=Neil |date=October 17, 2019 |title=Given the Cold Shoulder: A Review of the Scientific Literature for Evidence of Reptile Sentience |journal=Animals |volume=9 |issue=10 |pages=821 |doi=10.3390/ani9100821 |doi-access=free |issn=2076-2615 |pmc=6827095 |pmid=31627409}}</ref>