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Ask HN: How Would You Design A Doggie IQ Test?
I take care of two really cute street dogs (see: http://imgur.com/6sNPA.jpg ) and one thing that continuously surprises me is just how intelligent they are. One of them in particular is quite fascinating in this regard.
She has taught herself how to open doors with her paw, and she plays complex mind games with me. For example, once she invaded the space of the other and provoked him, while he was growling she just stood there observing my reaction to the situation. After I stepped in and defended her only then did she trust me enough to stay around me. Another time she started playing the doggie equivalent of hide and seek with me. She would watch me approach from underneath cars and then run off to conceal herself, while keeping track of my movements.
This is something really incredible.
I don't think that anyone has ever expected a dog to develop and test a complex theory of mind. Her behavior is just too complex to explain otherwise, and herein lies a very interesting problem. How do we know that she actually has one? How can we tell if she is as smart as I assume? To decompose the problem a bit, how do you judge what constitutes intelligence in the narrow framework of a dog's existence?
This is perhaps one of the most interesting problems I have come across in a long time. Even though it's doubtful that I'll discover something Earth shattering, but I want to at least make an attempt at solving it and perhaps we will learn something really fascinating about the mind along the way.
So, how would you go about it? What experiments would you perform? How would you set about in creating a doggie IQ test?
The best part is that I am in the position to execute the experiments as long as it doesn't hurt them (see: http://imgur.com/7O1xA.jpg )
Thanks in advance.
- dmlorenzetti 16y agoHere's a description of a nice experiment that implies dogs do have a "theory of mind": http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060300960.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06... In a nutshell, many dogs will vary whether they use their mouth or their paw to perform a task, depending on the circumstances under which they witness another dog perform that same task with either its mouth or paw. A simple explanation of the difference is that the witnessing dog "explains" the other dog's way of doing things in terms of the decisions the other dog made. You might look at books by Patricia McConnell, in particular "The Other End of the Leash" and "For the Love of a Dog". Stanley Coren also has some decent books on dog intelligence. These books focus on trying to understand the sorts of experiences you've described. More generally, Temple Grandin's "Animals in Translation" and "Animals Make Us Human" talk about some of these sorts of issues, not just in dogs, but also in cats, horses, pigs, and so on. I think you'll find there's a lot of research going on these topics-- a lot of it very fascinating.