Newsy2011.3.10---大象团队合作证明情报

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Newsy2011.3.10---大象团队合作证明情报
Elephants Prove Intelligence Through Teamwork
How do you give an elephant an IQ test? There haven’t been many mental tests of the world’s largest land animal, mostly because -- well -- they’re the world’s largest land animal. But ABC shows a new test that ranks elephants on par with chimps.
“Researchers in Thailand came up with an unusual test to measure elephants’ capacity for teamwork, a benchmark of intelligence. … They threaded rope around a platform. On that platform: buckets of corn, a reward. If one of the elephants tugs on the other end of the rope alone, no reward. But if they pull in unison, they’re both rewarded.”
The researchers noted it’s hard to tell if an animal understands what it’s doing or if it’s just responding to training. So after the elephants learned to pull together, the researchers threw them a few curve balls.
The researchers started releasing one elephant before the other. The elephants quickly learned they had to wait, standing patiently until their partner caught up. Next, they put one end of the rope out of the second elephant’s reach. The first elephant didn’t even bother pulling, once they realized their partner couldn’t help. (Video source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
The researchers claim this is strong evidence elephants really understand cooperation. That puts them in the upper echelons of animal intelligence. Ars Technica explains how some of their competitors fared at similar tests.
“Experiments with corvids, hyenas, and capuchin monkeys showed that these species either failed to complete the task, or left questions as to whether or not the animals understood the role of their partner. While there is still much left to figure out, elephants may rival apes in their ability to perform and understand cooperative tasks.”
Figuring out how animals think isn’t just a way to rank them from smartest to dumbest. It also gives clues to how humans and wild animals can get along when forced to live side by side. Care2 points out other elephant studies that could prove useful.
“Related elephant studies have shown elephants are afraid of some ants, and that fear could be used to keep them away from crops, so they don’t cause damage... Another elephant study found African elephants are afraid of bees, and avoid the hives. So it might be possible someday to strategically blend agriculture with bee hives to repel elephants also.”
Finally, if you don’t think cooperation proves intelligence, how about cheating?
One elephant outsmarted the researchers when she figured out she could just stand on her end of the rope and let her partner do all the work. (PNAS)
Give us your take on these elephant Einsteins in our comments section.
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Transcript by Newsy.

大象证明群策群力情报
你如何给大象的智商测试？有没有被世界上最大的陆地动物很多心理测试，主要是因为 - 好 - 他们是世界上最大的陆地动物。但美国广播公司展示了一个新的测试队伍，不比黑猩猩大象。
“在泰国的研究人员想出了一个不寻常的测试方法来检测大象的团队合作能力，智力的基准了。 ...他们围绕一个平台螺纹绳子。在该平台上：玉米水桶，奖励。如果一个人对绳子的另一端只有在大象拖船，没有回报。但是，如果他们异口同声地拉，他们俩都是回报。“
研究人员指出，很难判断动物明白它正在做什么，或者它只是回应的培训。所以当大象学会了拉在一起，研究人员把他们几个曲线球。
研究人员开始释放之前，其他大象之一。大象很快就学会了，他们不得不等待，耐心地站在自己的伴侣，直到追上。接着，他们把一个第二大象的绳子达到了结束。第一大象甚至没有拉，一旦他们意识到自己的伴侣忍不住。 （视频来源：美国国家科学院院刊）
研究人员声称这是有力的证据大象真正了解合作。这使得在动物智慧的上层他们。 Ars Technica的解释了如何在他们的一些竞争对手类似的测试表现。
“与corvids，鬣狗和卷尾猴实验表明，这些品种要么没有完成任务，或作为动物是否理解他们的伙伴的角色遗留问题。虽然还有很多留下来找出，大象可能对手的能力来执行任务的类人猿的合作和理解。“
搞清楚动物如何认为是不只是一种最聪明的排名从他们最愚蠢的。它也给人类如何线索和野生动物相处时被迫共处。另一头大象进行研究，可以证明是有益的Care2点。
“相关研究表明大象大象是一些蚂蚁害怕，这种恐惧可用于防止作物他们离开，这样他们就不会造成伤害...另一项研究发现，非洲大象大象怕蜜蜂，避免荨麻疹。因此，有可能有一天也能融入战略蜂箱农业击退大象也。“
最后，如​​果你不认为合作证明了情报，欺骗又如何？
一位研究人员扑空大象时，她想出了她可以站在她的绳尾，让她做所有的工作伙伴。 （PNAS）上
给我们您需要在我们的评论部分这些大象爱因斯坦。
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