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 oday,
the belief factor which does not accept the Evolution Model is
like a prisoner in the data base of
the brain. This prisoning level has been
made concrete by the genes. Naturally, this level of thinking is influencing the
behaviour types to very great extent.
We
should never forget that a way of understanding the behaviour
people is to understand the behaviour of the animals as much as
possible with which man shares the same place and certain basic
points as well as the
activities of the man himself.
Do
the animals have a conscious mind?
What do the animals know about themselves?..
Such questions and their answers are very important for those
who are working on behavioural sciences.
Many researches have been made on the subject and many
articles have been published. (1)
In
Marian Stamp Dawkins’ book named ‘’The Silent World of The
Animals’’ such questions are tried to be answered. This book
has been translated into Turkish as the 100th book of
a series in Tubitak’s (The Turkish National Science and
Research Organisation) publications. The name of the series is
‘Books on Popular Science’’…
Especially, at the time when it is being argued that if the
animals had any concept of numbers and
counting; there is a very good example given
on the subject. This is a very good experiment which has been
conducted in a very clever way.
Those who have conducted the experiment are Hank Davis from
Guelp University in Canada and his student
Sheree Ann Bradford.
They have first taken a box and tweleve mice. They then
made six tunnels inside the box. The entrance of all the tunnels
were facing
the same direction and
their openings had a ninety degree angle with the box.
In the entrance of all the tunnels there was a spring door and
at the rear end there was some food.
Among the
doors of the six tunnels, only one of them led to the food at
the end, because in the other tunnels a special barricade
with a spring had been put, which stopped the mouse from going
to the rear end.
The mice were put into three groups, four in each group. For
every group there was only one tunnel which had enabled the mice
to reach the food at the end.
The members of the first group could reach the food only
in the 3rd tunnel, those in the second group could
reach only the food in the 4th tunnel and those in
the third group could reach only the food placed in the 5th
tunnel.
I think, I do not have to remind that it was not possible for
the mice to decide which tunnel to enter upon the smell they
receive, because there
was food in all the tunnels.
The spring door at the entrance stopped them from seeing the
inside of the tunnel, therefore they did not know that inside
there was a second barrier door.
The door through which the mice were led into the box was at the
left hand side of the tunnels.
Each time, the experimenters changed the order of the tunnels.
For example, they placed the tunnel in the third row
in the fifth row. After every experiment, they changed
the lining of the
tunnels to prevent any trace marks that the mice can leave. They
have also made random
differences in the distance of
the tunnels with each other and with the entrance door.
They have made such an arrangement that the only way that
the mice would reach their own tunnel would be to count the
number of the tunnels on the left upon entering the box and
solve their problem.
The more interesting was the behaviour of those who were used to
eat food from the fifth tunnel.
The mice belonging to this group went at first directly
to the end, then they turned backe and went
to the second tunnel. This was the right tunnel towhich
they were supposed to go. There is no need to say that this was
originally the
fifth tunnel put in in the place of the second.
Last of all, the researchers made a change in the design of the
experiment. They have placed some of the tunnels on the wall
across. However, the mice could find their tunnels without fail.
I think this simple experiment is enough to show us that the
mice have the concept of counting.
Well
than…
Do
we know how to count!…
Londra
- 10.02.2000
http://afyuksel.com
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