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Full Idea
Rats can determine the number of times they have pressed a lever up to at least twenty-four presses,…and can consistently turn down the fifth tunnel on the left in a maze.
Gist of Idea
Rat behaviour reveals a considerable ability to count
Source
Alvin I. Goldman (Phil Applications of Cognitive Science [1993], p.58)
Book Ref
Goldman,Alvin I.: 'Philosophical Applications of Cognitive Science' [Westview 1993], p.58
A Reaction
This seems to encourage an empirical view of maths (pattern recognition?) rather than a Platonic one. Or numbers are innate in rat brains?
| 4047 | Gestalt psychology proposes inbuilt proximity, similarity, smoothness and closure principles [Goldman] |
| 4048 | Infant brains appear to have inbuilt ontological categories [Goldman] |
| 4049 | The way in which colour experiences are evoked is physically odd and unpredictable [Goldman] |
| 4044 | Rat behaviour reveals a considerable ability to count [Goldman] |
| 4045 | Children may have three innate principles which enable them to learn to count [Goldman] |
| 4043 | Elephants can be correctly identified from as few as three primitive shapes [Goldman] |