The Intelligence of Animals

Animals, like humans, are intelligent and social creatures. Intelligence is characterized as the ability to adapt to a changing environment by acquiring and applying knowledge and skills. In the late 1800s, Charles Darwin and his followers first believed that certain species had intelligence equal to humans. Scientists have concluded that humans are not the only intelligent animal species on the planet since conducting experiments. Animal intelligence is a concept that is used in three different ways; to pose a question whether animals are intelligent, to convey animal intellect, and to provide a discussion of the comparative level of intelligence in different animal species. Research suggests that animals just like humans have cognitive processes. However, the cognitive processes of the different animals can be clearly understood by considering the different cognitive adaptation of different animals based on their respective ecological niche. Radical behaviorists have dismissed that claim while the unique human capabilities have been mimicked using an essentially mechanical process by artificial intelligence.

Scientific, philosophical, and ethical discussions have been raising questions and offering explanation about animal intelligence. The philosophical approach compares the different minds of animals, define and quantify consciousness. The pain felt and suffering of animals provides the basics for the ethical approach. The scientific argument on animal intelligence extends to explain aspects of episodic memory that has been displayed by some chimpanzees in zoos. Some specific animals have been observed to be more intelligent than others by the cultures that have interacted with the animals. Animals such as dogs, horses, great apes, dolphins, elephants, pigs, and parrots have been concluded to be more intelligent than other animals. For instance, trained dogs have been observed to retrieve a phone for a 911 call. Dogs also predict epileptic seizure by detecting subtle changes in their owners. All the above scenarios act as a sign of intelligence. Some animals have been reported to have a sense of self-awareness, pigs and elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror.

http://www.assessmentpsychology.com/animal-intelligence.htm

This site is very credible. This is because has very accurate about the intelligence of animals. It also discusses the different theories that have tried explaining the level of intelligence of animals. The author draws all the aspects that could drive the reader to understand fully what it means by referring animals to be intelligent. The information on the focuses on the cognition in animals, questions about the intelligence of animals, and the level of intelligence exhibited by different animal species. The site gives example of the perceived most intelligent animals.

The advantages of the site are that it has expansive on information regarding animals intelligence, explaining the different approaches used when classifying intelligence. However the sites does not provide any detail of the human like intelligence of Cetaceans. I would therefore give this site a rating of 4 out of 5.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-intelligence-of-animals/

This is not a very credible. I say this because the conversation on the site only discusses the intelligent concept of two animal species, the dolphins, and the dog and does not explicitly exhaust on the concept that makes them appear intelligent. For example, the most common concept of the dog retrieving a phone for 911 dials call. The focus of the site is the emotions of the two animal species, and it seems like he keeps it current. I did not like the site because it had shallow information concerning the intelligence of animals, so one of the cons would be that the information would not help with my paper because i need an extensive overview of the topic to complete my research topic. The pro is that the conversation on the site between Smith and De waal leaves the readers with full for thoughts and puzzled about some characters in dogs. I give it one star because it is so poorly done and I will not be using it for my paper.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/animal-intelligence-a-controversial-science-1.2237600

This site is somehow credible. I say this because it gives the reader the knowledge of the origin of the concept of intelligence of animals. However, the concept of dolphins being intelligent is openly dismissed understandably when John Lily started giving the animal an LSD. The site focuses on the dispute between Romanes point of view regarding the intelligence of animals and the Zoz magazine that satirically depicts Romanes standing on the podium while a dog sat upon it. One of the pro is that is that the site has provided the origin of the title concept to include in my research paper. The con is that the site does not provide sufficient evidence on the animals intelligence. I give the site two star out of five because of the limited information.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-frontier-animal-intelligence/

This is a very credible site because it is written and maintained by scientific professionals who actually did the research. The information is timely and accurate. The focus on the site was animal intelligence, and the authors made it a point to provide more than your basic facts about animal intelligence. I liked this site because it was well written and a lot of the information was interesting. One pro is that I learned a lot about the different concepts of animal intelligence. I give this site five stars because it is reliable and educational.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/open-gently/201302/the-intelligence-animals

This is a credible site. Psychologists that are good at interpreting the cognitive processes of different animals wrote it. The site content provides general information on the concept of intelligence of animals. However, it is not very detailed, but I liked it anyway because the information provided would be useful to my research paper. The only con is that it has information that has been researched on. I give this site four star because of the researched on information provided.