Dogs don’t recognise changes to their own appearance – the ‘mirror test’ of intelligence. But as dog cognition expert Dr Alexandra Horowitz explains, there’s a reason they fail.
Why is self-recognition a sign of intelligence?
Self-recognition comes out of the comparative cognition field, where people test if non-human animals can problem solve, imitate or learn, just as we would ask of children. Some questions are about meta-cognition – thinking about thinking. One meta-cognitive skill is ‘theory of mind’ – the realisation that others have minds different from your own, and know things you don’t. Humans gain this skill after about the age of three.
What is the mirror test?
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