1、2、3……人類可以進行算術,動物可以嗎?
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Believe it or not, fish can
count, too. According to one study, angelfish can tell the difference between larger and smaller amounts, and can count up to three. When they're in a new environment, angelfish tend to take cover by joining the largest possible group of nearby fish. Spanish researchers ran an experiment where angelfish were given a choice between schools consisting of larger and smaller numbers of fish. The angelfish were consistently able to choose the larger school as long as it was twice as large as the smaller one. When the groups varied less in size, the angelfish's choices were less consistent. In other tests, the researchers found that in certain conditions the fish were able to tell the difference between numbers as small as two and three. Angelfish are not an outlier. Besides chimps, horses, and dolphins, many other animals have shown an ability to distinguish between larger and smaller groupings. Rodents and pigeons are accomplished counters, and even salamanders have some mathematical skills. Which goes to show that at least some of the traits that we assume make humans unique such as counting are common to many living things. We humans may be able to do math at a higher level than other animals, but when it comes to the basic building blocks of working with numbers, we're more connected to the rest of the animal kingdom than we may believe.
無論你相信與否,魚也可以數(shù)數(shù)。一項研究表明藍刺蝶魚區(qū)分較大數(shù)量與較小數(shù)量,并能計算到數(shù)字3. 當他們處在新的環(huán)境時,藍刺蝶魚傾向于加入附近較大數(shù)量的魚群以掩護自己。西班牙的研究者進行過這樣一個實驗,給藍刺蝶魚一個選擇含有較大數(shù)量及較小數(shù)量魚群的機會。 只要當較大魚群的數(shù)量是較少魚群數(shù)量的兩倍是,藍刺蝶魚始終堅持選擇較大的魚群。當兩者之間的數(shù)量區(qū)別不是那么明顯的時候,藍刺蝶魚的選擇便沒有那么執(zhí)著了。 在其他的測試中,研究者發(fā)現(xiàn)藍刺蝶魚在一定的條件下可以區(qū)分像2、3這樣小的數(shù)字之間的區(qū)別。 藍刺蝶魚并不是一個例外。除了黑猩猩、馬及海豚還有很多其他動物表現(xiàn)出區(qū)分較大及較小群體的能力。嚙齒類動物和鴿子是熟練的計算者,即使火蜥蜴也有一些數(shù)學能力。 至少有一些證據例如計數(shù)在許多生物中普遍存在表明是我們人類的假想使得我們與眾不同。我們人類相對于其他的動物也許是能夠處理較高水平的數(shù)學問題,但是當我們用數(shù)字這一基本組成進行工作時,我們與其他動物之間的聯(lián)系比我們認為的要多的多。