Cetacean Intelligence - Problem-solving Ability

Problem-solving Ability

Some research shows that dolphins among other animals understand concepts such as numerical continuity (but not necessarily counting). A recent research study found that dolphins may be able to discriminate between numbers. However, the same researcher suggested that "It may involve mimicry," he said, "as dolphins are unsurpassed in imitative abilities among nonhuman animals."

Several researchers observing animals' ability to learn set formation tend to rank dolphins at about the level of elephants in "intelligence" and show that dolphins do not have any unusual talent with problem solving compared with the other animals classed with very great intelligence. Macphail in his "Brain and intelligence in vertebrates" compared data from studies regarding learning "set formation" of animals. The results show that dolphins are skilled at performing this sort of standardized testing but not as adept as other animals in the study. The true extent of dolphin's intelligence is really unknown to humans in the sense that we, ourselves, have evolved over time to maintain sustenance on the land whereas they have evolved to live in the water.