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In an Aesop fable, a thirsty crow wanting to drink from a pitcher must first raise the water level. So he drops pebbles in the container. In real life, the European Jay can perform the same task. But just how smart is it?
Researchers challenged jays and human children with puzzles like the one in the fable. And until kids reached the age of 8 their results were similar to the birds’. The study is in the journal Public Library of Science ONE. [Lucy G. Cheke, Elsa Loissel and Nicola S. Clayton, How Do Children Solve Aesop's Fable?]
For example, in one test, a prize was put in a tube of either water or sawdust. About half the birds took multiple trials to learn that dropping stones into the liquid, but not the dust, lifted the reward up to within reach.
When children between four and seven were faced with the same test, they learned similarly, taking about five trials to realize that the token in the water tube could be retrieved—although they did pick up the task faster than the birds. Older children learned more quickly, and those eight or older solved it the first time they tried. Til then, the kids were, well, birdbrains.
—Sophie Bushwick
[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
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3 Comments
Add CommentWhat I don't get is why the kids didn't just turn the containers upside down.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe Aesop’s Fable:(In this web page:
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/perry/390.htm)
*Perry's Index to the Aesopica
Fables exist in many versions; here is one version in English:
THE CROW AND THE WATER JAR
A thirsty crow noticed a huge jar and saw that at the very bottom there was a little bit of water. For a long time the crow tried to spill the water out so that it would run over the ground and allow her to satisfy her tremendous thirst. After exerting herself for some time in vain, the crow grew frustrated and applied all her cunning with unexpected ingenuity: as she tossed little stones into the jar, the water rose of its own accord until she was able to take a drink.
This fable shows us that thoughtfulness is superior to brute strength, since this is the way that the crow was able to carry her task to its conclusion.*
*"Children start off with no idea of what is possible and what is not possible," (Lucy) Cheke (the leader of the research group) says. "If they did, they would never be able to learn. This is why children like magic, and why they will believe you when you tell them all kinds of fanciful things."*
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis fragment of an excellent article about the research is in here:
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/07/the-wisdom-of-not-being-too-rati.html?ref=hp