Can animals think?
Animals can't tell us how they feel in words. So scientists design clever experiments instead. Here's what they've found — and what they're still working out.
Feelings scientists study
Real experiments
Pigs play video games
The question: Can a pig understand that moving a joystick moves something on a screen?
The experiment: Pigs were given a joystick and had to move a cursor into a target on a screen to earn a treat.
What happened: Several pigs learned it — and kept trying even when the treat machine broke, as long as a person encouraged them.
What it means: Understanding that your action changes something on a screen is a real mental leap. It's called behavioural agency.
✅ Well established
Chickens have words for danger
The question: Do chicken alarm calls mean something specific, or are they just noise?
The experiment: Researchers played recordings of different chicken alarm calls with no predator present.
What happened: Chickens looked up at the sky for the aerial call and scanned the ground for the ground-predator call.
What it means: The call carries information about what the danger is — that's called referential communication.
✅ Well established
Cows have best friends
The question: Does it matter to a cow which cow she's with?
The experiment: Cows were penned with their preferred partner, then with a cow they didn't know, while heart rate was measured.
What happened: Heart rates and stress hormones were lower with the preferred partner.
What it means: Cows don't just tolerate a herd — they have specific friendships that make them feel safer.
✅ Well established
Fish remember maps
The question: Is a fish's memory really three seconds?
The experiment: Fish were trained to find food in a maze, then tested weeks later.
What happened: They went straight to the right place, even after long gaps.
What it means: Fish build mental maps and keep them for months. The three-second myth is simply wrong.
✅ Well established
Crows invent tools
The question: Can a bird make a tool it has never seen?
The experiment: A crow named Betty was given a straight piece of wire and food in a deep tube.
What happened: She bent the wire into a hook and lifted the food out — repeatedly.
What it means: Making a new tool for a new problem is something very few species can do.
✅ Well established
Octopuses might play
The question: Do octopuses do things just for fun?
The experiment: Octopuses in aquariums were given floating pill bottles with a current flowing past.
What happened: Some pushed the bottle into the current again and again so it came back — like bouncing a ball.
What it means: It looks like play, but proving an animal is having fun is genuinely hard. Scientists are still working on it.
🔎 Scientists are still studying this
Elephants know their own reflection
The question: Does an elephant know the elephant in the mirror is her?
The experiment: A mark was painted where an elephant could only see it in a mirror.
What happened: She touched the mark on her own head, not the mirror.
What it means: Mirror self-recognition is rare — only a handful of species have shown it.
✅ Well established
Bees understand zero
The question: Can an insect grasp the idea of 'nothing'?
The experiment: Bees were trained to fly to the card with fewer shapes, then shown a blank card.
What happened: They chose the blank card — treating zero as the smallest number.
What it means: Understanding zero is a big abstract idea. Human children take years to get it.
✅ Well established
How do scientists KNOW?
Good scientists never just guess. They repeat experiments, try to prove themselves wrong, and let other scientists check their work. When you read a fact here, it's fair to ask: how did they find that out? Ask a grown-up to look at our sources page with you.