Behavioral responses to stimuli may be adaptive

Animal intelligence is difficult to define.

• Cognition is the mental process of knowing through perception or reasoning.

• Other factors affecting an animal’s behavior may seem like cognition.

• awareness

• ability to judge

• ability to solve complex problems

Some animals can solve problems.

• Insight is the ability to solve a problem mentally without repeated trial and error.
• observed in primates, dolphins, and corvids

• chimpanzee retrieving hanging bananas

• Tool use helps an animal accomplish a task.

• some dolphins use sponges to protect and hunt
• crows and chimpanzees make probing sticks
• capuchin monkeys use rocks to crack nuts

Cognitive ability may provide an adaptive advantage for living in social groups.

• Intelligence in animals seems to be correlated with two characteristics.
• relatively large brains for their body size
• live in complex social groups

• Cultural behavior spreads through a population by learning, not by selection.

• taught to one generation by another
• aided by living in close proximity