首页
登录
职称英语
People with pets find it hard to believe, but scientists continue to debate w
People with pets find it hard to believe, but scientists continue to debate w
游客
2024-06-10
41
管理
问题
People with pets find it hard to believe, but scientists continue to debate whether or not animals are conscious—that is, whether they’re aware of themselves as individuals.
Some still claim that anything animals do is strictly the result of conditioning. Others are willing to grant animals a certain amount of intelligence, but argue that animals are no more self-aware than computers, which, after all, are also capable of complex, seemingly conscious behavior.
One sign of intelligence, if not necessarily consciousness, is tool use. Chimpanzees use sticks to reach for things and fish for termites; they’ve even been seen to attach two sticks together to make a longer stick. Non-primates can be just as ingenious. One scientist had a crow living in his laboratory who was fed dry mash that had to be moistened before it could be eaten. Occasionally the keepers forgot to moisten it. The crow used a cup he had been given as a toy to get his own water and moisten the mash himself!
Egyptian vultures throw rocks at ostrich eggs to break them open; the woodpecker finch, of the Galapagos islands, uses a cactus spine to pry grubs out of tree branches; some green herons will drop small objects onto the surface of the water to lure fish to the surface.
Dolphins have no hands, but they’ve learned to carry rocks around by sucking them into their blowholes. Dolphins will also blow bubble rings, then play with them as they rise to the surface. Sometimes they’ll drop bits of fish or seaweed into the center of a bobble ring just to see what happens.
Nevertheless, many scientists still think that animals are basically sleepwalkers, carrying out complex actions but completely unaware they are doing so.
This notion only dates back to the 1920s, when the psychological theory known as behaviorism took hold. Behaviorists said that any animal behavior, no matter how complex, could be explained in terms of the interaction of learned responses to stimuli. Behaviorism made it possible for psychologists to carry out rigorous experiments, and so it became very popular.
The problem with animal consciousness is that it’s almost impossible to prove rigorously. Still, there is evidence: not only the common-sense evidence pet-owners provide, but experimental evidence (i.e., "if rats and humans react in exactly the same way to certain situations, and humans are aware of why they’re acting that way, maybe rats are too") and indirect evidence (certain brain waves that seem to be linked to conscious thoughts in humans occur in animals, too).
Consciousness, argue the scientists who believe animals possess it, is too important to survival for animals not to possess it. When something unusual or unexpected happens, an organism needs to figure out how to escape or otherwise cope. That’s when consciousness swings into action, and ally animal without it is at a terrible disadvantage. [br] Why do many scientists think animals are basically sleepwalkers?
选项
A、Because animals learn to carry out complex actions.
B、Because animals are trained to carry out complex actions.
C、Because animals carry out complex actions in response to stimuli.
D、Because animals carry out complex actions without awareness.
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3627529.html
相关试题推荐
Peoplewithpetsfindithardtobelieve,butscientistscontinuetodebatew
Peoplewithpetsfindithardtobelieve,butscientistscontinuetodebatew
Britainwasawealthycountry.Therewereafewveryrichpeoplewhoreceive
Britainwasawealthycountry.Therewereafewveryrichpeoplewhoreceive
Britainwasawealthycountry.Therewereafewveryrichpeoplewhoreceive
Britainwasawealthycountry.Therewereafewveryrichpeoplewhoreceive
Britainwasawealthycountry.Therewereafewveryrichpeoplewhoreceive
Britainwasawealthycountry.Therewereafewveryrichpeoplewhoreceive
[originaltext]Chinaisdraftingnewlawstomakeiteasierforpeopletodo
Inthelate1960s,manypeopleinNorthAmericaturnedtheirattentiontoen
随机试题
LadyGaga’snewalbum______tonumberoneintheUKOfficialChart.A、hoistedB、
Whatmakesagoodmanager?Thereisn’tmagicformulaforgoodmanagement,of
Whenyouvacatetheroom,youshould______thedoorkeytome.A、handinB、hando
InBritain,peoplehavedifferentattitu
以下哪些是水库淹没影响处理范围?( )A.工程引水导致河段减水,流成生产生活引
甲公司主要生产A产品,市场占有率很高,不存在滞销问题,目前的销售价格为100元/
下列关于最高限价的表述错误的是()。A.采用最高限价的目标是保护消费者利益或降低
十二正经循行中阴经与阳经的交接部位是A.手指端 B.胸腹中 C.头面部 D
某公司从客户名录中随机抽取600个客户进行满意度和忠诚度调查,为了验证客户总体中
注册会计师在进行审计时遇到了以下的情况,其中,注册会计师不会增加强调事项段的有(
最新回复
(
0
)