Credit: SciTechDaily.comBehavior that is “surprisingly strategic” boosts our understanding of animal cognition.Are mice smart enough to be strategic?Kishore Kuchibhotla, a Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist who studies knowing in human beings and animals, and who has actually long worked with mice, wondered why rodents often performed badly in tests when they knew how to carry out well. “Its difficult to say animals are making hypotheses, but our view is that animals, like people, can make hypotheses and they can evaluate them and may use higher cognitive procedures to do it.”The work, which deepens our understanding of animal cognition, and might lead to identifying the neural basis for strategizing, was released in Current Biology.Kuchibhotlas laboratory formerly discovered that animals understand a lot more about tasks than they demonstrate in tests.
Credit: SciTechDaily.comBehavior that is “surprisingly strategic” improves our understanding of animal cognition.Are mice creative enough to be strategic?Kishore Kuchibhotla, a Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist who studies learning in humans and animals, and who has actually long worked with mice, questioned why rodents typically performed badly in tests when they understood how to perform well.”It appears that a big part of this space in between understanding and performance is that the animal is engaging in a form of exploration– what the animal is doing is extremely creative,” he said. “Its difficult to say animals are making hypotheses, but our view is that animals, like humans, can make hypotheses and they can check them and may use higher cognitive processes to do it.”The work, which deepens our understanding of animal cognition, and might lead to recognizing the neural basis for planning, was published in Current Biology.Kuchibhotlas lab formerly found that animals know a lot more about jobs than they show in tests. Credit: Johns Hopkins UniversityStrategic Behavior in Mice”We discover that when the animal is checking out, they engage in a truly simple technique, which is, Im going to go left for a while, figure things out, and then Im going to change and go right for a while,” Kuchibhotla said.