How scientists test animal minds: the mirror test, puzzle boxes and Clever Hans

Tests: 5 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★★★ · Understood: 11 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 389 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · ★★★ · right ✓

«my dog barks at the mirror then ignores it, so dogs are dumb» What is the best reasoning?

1. Dogs cannot see at all — score 2
2. A dog lives by smell, so a mirror test does not suit it — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
3. Dogs know mirrors are fake so they ignore all tests — score 0
4. Yes, dogs are dumb — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 389, line 8: «Dogs know the world mostly by smell, and one scientist reported that dogs spend less time sniffing their own wee than another dog's.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «dogs» (+1); the same circumstance (+1); a different action (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

A horse taps the right answer only when its owner, who knows the sum, stands in front of it. What is the best next step?

1. Give the horse a medal at once and put it on television — score 1
2. Ask the owner to stand closer — score 1
3. Make the sums harder — ← Mova's choice · score 3
4. Test it again with a person who does not know the answer — ✓ the right answer · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 3 with score 3, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 389, line 2: «Over a hundred years ago a horse called Clever Hans seemed to do sums by tapping his hoof. A scientist showed that Hans was watching tiny, unknowing movements…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+3); the same thing acted on «sums» (+2). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

In a cartoon a cat solves a maths test faster than the class. If a real scientist saw a cat do this, what should they do first?

1. Believe it straight away and tell the newspapers — ← Mova's choice · score 11
2. Check for hidden hints and repeat the test fairly — ✓ the right answer · score 11
3. Make the cat a teacher — score 3
4. Ban maths for cats — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what is done. It chose option 1 with score 11, tied with another option at 11 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 199, line 13: «A black cat crossing the road brings no bad luck; in some countries black cats are even thought lucky, and in shelters black cats are sometimes adopted less of…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «black cats» (+4); it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same action «think» (+3). The right option, 2, scored 11. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · ★★★ · right ✓

Count them: a chart lists 5 kinds that passed the mirror test and 3 that failed. How many kinds were tested?

1. Eight — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
2. Five — no support
3. Two — no support
4. Three — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

Count them: the water jar test is done with 4 crows and then 3 rooks. How many birds in all, and how many legs?

1. 7 birds, 7 legs — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. 7 birds, 14 legs — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. 7 birds, 28 legs — no support
4. 12 birds, 14 legs — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

«a crow got a treat outta a tube with stones, it's a fluke» What would make the result stronger?

1. Many crows doing it again, in other labs too — ✓ the right answer · score 1
2. One crow doing it once more — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. Telling a friend about it — no support
4. Painting the tube red so the crows can see it better — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 2 with score 3, against 1 for the next best. Its support: lesson 233, line 7: «New Caledonian crows make hooks from twigs to pull grubs out of holes, and a crow called Betty once bent a straight wire into a hook.», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «crow» (+2); the same property (+1). The right option, 1, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

«why'd they reward Alex with the thing he named, lol spoilt bird» What is the best reason?

1. So the word he said connected with the real thing — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. To make him sleep — no support
3. To make him stop talking so loudly in the lab — no support
4. Because parrots eat everything they can name — ← Mova's choice · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 1, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 389, line 15: «When Alex named a thing correctly he was often given that very thing as his reward; scientists argue how much he understood, but he showed parrots can do far m…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «alex» (+1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · ★★★ · wrong ✗

What would happen if a scientist always smiled when the animal got near the right answer?

1. The scientist would get the answer wrong — score -1
2. The animal would solve it better for real, because it would feel happy and calm — ← Mova's choice · score 1
3. Nothing, animals never notice faces — score 0
4. The animal might learn to read the smile, not solve the task — ✓ the right answer · score 1

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 2 with score 1, tied with another option at 1 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 241, line 1: «Some animals survive because they work as a team, like a football side where one keeps goal while the others run.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «work» (+1). The right option, 4, scored 1. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · ★★★ · right ✓

«put a sticker on a cat's paw, it pulls it off, so cats pass the mirror test» What is wrong?

1. The paw is too small for a sticker — no support
2. Nothing is wrong, cats pass — score 1
3. Cats have no paws — score 2
4. It could see the paw without a mirror, so the test means nothing — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 8

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 8, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 22, line 19: «An Asian elephant named Happy touched a mark on her head after seeing it in a mirror, which suggests she knew the reflection was herself; great apes, dolphins…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «see» (+4); the same circumstance (+3); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · ★★★ · right ✓

«are these animals in tests treated ok or what» What is the right picture?

1. Good tests use rewards, let animals choose and never hurt them — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 4
2. All tests hurt animals — score 3
3. Tests are only done on toy animals, never on real living ones — score 3
4. Animals are never tested — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 1 with score 4, against 3 for the next best. Its support: lesson 389, line 17: «Good animal tests use rewards, let animals choose to take part and never hurt them, and many countries have rules to protect animals in science.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «use» (+3); the same doer «good animal tests» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · ★★★ · right ✓

Why did Clever Hans still deserve the name clever?

1. He could talk — score 3
2. He could do real sums in his head — score 4
3. He could write numbers in the sand with his hoof — score 4
4. He was very good at reading people's tiny movements — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 11

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 11, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 389, line 10: «Clever Hans tapped right answers by reading tiny movements of the people watching, so he was clever at reading people, not at maths.», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «tiny movements» (+5); the same action «read» (+3); the same doer «clever» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal flaw disclosed in the celebrated case of the horse Clever Hans.

1. The questions were posed in a foreign language which the horse did not know — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The animal responded to involuntary cues from the persons present — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. The horse was unable to hear the questions — no support
4. The horse was in fact a different animal — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the reason for which the mirror test may be deemed unsuited to the assessment of dogs.

1. Dogs are incapable of sight — no support
2. Dogs invariably pass all tests — ← Mova's choice · score 3
3. Dogs are prohibited from laboratories by law in most countries of Europe — score 2
4. The species perceives the world principally by the sense of smell — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 3, against 2 for the next best. Its support: lesson 389, line 7: «Great apes, dolphins, one elephant and some magpies are reported to pass the mirror test, while most monkeys, dogs and cats do not.», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «mirror test» (+3). The right option, 4, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the water jar test administered to rooks.

1. The birds dropped stones into the tube until the floating reward rose within reach — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 6
2. The birds drank the water to reach the reward — no support
3. The birds broke the vessel with their beaks — no support
4. The birds failed to obtain the reward on every occasion — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 389, line 12: «In the water jar test, based on an old fable, rooks and crows dropped stones into a tube until the water rose with a floating treat; children usually pass it a…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «drop» (+4); the same thing acted on «stones» (+1); a different doer (counts against) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises sound practice in experiments upon animal cognition?

1. Animals should be compelled to participate — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Results are repeated with many animals and in other laboratories, without harm — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. A single remarkable individual suffices to establish a conclusion beyond any doubt — no support
4. The tester should invariably know and display the answer — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

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