SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME: New research findings show crows can recognize geometric regularity
Animal physiologists at the University of Tübingen conducted several experiments that involved testing crows on their ability to recognize geometric shapes. Recognizing regularity in geometric shapes means being able to pick out one shape that is different from others in a group (e.g., picking out a star when it is placed among several moons). Continued testing showed that the birds had some understanding of right angles, parallel lines and even some degree of symmetry. Until now, this ability has never been observed in any creature except for humans. However, the findings strongly suggest that the talent exists in other animals as well.
BOB YIRKA: Recognizing regularity in geometric shapes means being able to pick out one shape that is different from others in a group — picking out a plastic star, for example, when it is placed among several plastic moons. Testing for the ability to recognize geometric regularity has been done with many animals, including chimps and bonobos. Until now, this ability has never been observed in any creature except for humans…
A trio of animal physiologists at the University of Tübingen, in Germany, has found that at least one species of crow has the ability to recognize geometric regularity. In their study published in the journal Science Advances, Philipp Schmidbauer, Madita Hahn and Andreas Nieder conducted several experiments that involved testing carrion crows on their ability to recognize geometric shapes…
In their work, the testing was done using computer screens — the birds were asked to peck the outlier in a group; if they chose correctly, they got a food treat. The team chose to test carrion crows because prior experiments have shown them to have exceptional intelligence and mathematical capabilities… Continued testing showed that the birds had some understanding of right angles, parallel lines and even some degree of symmetry.
The research team suggests their experiments were quite convincing — the crows were very obviously able to recognize geometric regularity. They note that the experiments also showed that the birds could do so with no prior learning. The findings strongly suggest that the ability exists in other animals as well. SOURCE…
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