The salamander also knows ... doing calculation

Animals know how to calculate. Not only monkeys, who are considered the smartest low-level animals. Through the testing process, scientists realized that the whole salamander also knew how to calculate.

The Filipino people could not believe their eyes, when the retired teacher Wilhelm von Osten showed them Hans' performance: how much was 5 plus 7? The teacher made a calculation, the horse hit 12 on the ground. He asked: If this eighth day is Tuesday, what is the sixth day ?, Hans swung his leg 11 times to the ground.

Horses know calculations? Most witnesses were skeptical, even though Osten swore that it was no magic trick. So it is not surprising that at the beginning of the twentieth century, hundreds of biologists from various countries came to Berlin to see firsthand the strange horse. No one detected a sign of fraud .

Calculate to . exist

Thus, is computing the only human capacity? Recently, scientists have found quite a lot of evidence that allows to affirm that animals also have the ability to calculate. Monkey knows how to do two calculations (addition and subtraction), counting birds and even salamanders also understand that three are bigger than two.

Claudia Uller, professor of natural sciences at Essex University (UK) confirmed that, if patient enough, we can fully teach chimpanzees, white mice and pigeons to master two spells Count with two digits. How do they have such capabilities? Very simple - according to Prof. Uller: In order to survive, these animals must know how to evaluate, on how many fruits or trees there are around how many enemies are stalking.

The results of the research works of scientists are at least as attractive as the method they perform. To show how monkey is capable of calculating, Professor Uller used the experience that previously applied to children. In front of the chimpanzee, she hid the objects under the large umbrella one after another. Those are the Froot Loops packages of Kellogg products - barley burns with lemon, cherries and orange flavors - a favorite dish of monkeys.

Then the umbrella was folded and waiting for the monkey's reaction. What happen? The monkeys were stunned, the case of what they saw was not correct with their calculations. If - for example, under the umbrella there is only one burn package - instead of the two packages seen - the monkey will see his eyes for a longer time, the case is exactly as expected; At the same time they were also surprised, the case witnessed three packages - instead of two.

Prof. Claudia Uller also wants to determine, what other animals besides the monkey can calculate? She chose salamanders, one of the animals that lived on the earth millions of years ago for humans to do experiments. She placed before two large plastic salamanders, the first tube locked two screws; second tube - three children. Most absolute salamanders rush into tubes with more snails.

The same experiment was repeated with a single spool and a snail with two screws - the salamander always chose the second tube. But when Uller increased the number of snails to three and four children, or added more, the iguana began to lose direction. Obviously, the fact that four snails are more than three have gone beyond the ability to calculate salamanders.

Replace the ending

Experimental results have demonstrated that: For a long time, low-level animals have had elementary math ability. There are things, limited to a few simple numbers.

German scientists claim that the brain of young children works on the same principle. It was not until the age of 2-3 years that when children were fluent, children began to learn to calculate accurately. From that fact, it is possible to draw conclusions: The key to unlocking people's mathematical competence seems to have a close relationship with language.