There is a truly fascinating program that is shown periodically on NatGeoWild titled "Dog Genius." It is intended to demonstrate the degree of canine intelligence, but it also says quite a bit about human thinking, too.
One aspect about canine intelligence that is demonstrated on this program is that dogs are capable, not just of "trial and error" learning, but of true reasoning as well. The show depicts an experiment where dogs are placed in "Skinner boxes" and shown two images, say a teacup and a box on a touch screen. If the dog presses the "correct" image--say, in this case, the box--he is rewarded with a treat. If he presses the wrong image, the screen flashes and he gets nothing. Of course, the dog learns that he is rewarded for pressing the box rather than the tea cup--big deal!
Ah, but it really is a big deal. Say, on the next trial, the dog is shown a teacup and a chair. Well, he doesn't apparently start from scratch. He remembers that the teacup gives him nothing, so he presses the chair and, voila, he gets his treat. The next time, say, he is shown a box and a table. He remembers that the box image gets him the treat, so he ignores the table and chooses the box. He doesn't experiment with trying the table to see what happens: he chooses the box because he knows that gets him a treat. It goes further. Now, he is shown a chair and a table, neither of which is the original image. Which does he select? The chair, because he remembers that the chair image provided a treat as well. He has learned, ON HIS OWN, to make these kind of logical associations. He is thinking, he is reasoning, although of course not at our level, but give him a break; he is, after all, still a dog.
Dogs have learned to read our expressions, and it seems they are the only non-human animals to do so. Say that you have taught your dog the "leave it" command; you place a treat on the floor, give the command, and the dog will learn NOT to pick up the treat until you give permission. All right, everyone knows that, but...If you close your eyes, and the dog sees that you have closed your eyes, he will ignore the command and take the treat anyway! Why not? You can't tell that he took it, he wants it, so why not take it? They have apparently learned that we process information through our eyes, while a dog processes most of his through his nose. This dog is understanding--and thinks he is manipulating--a member of another species. And, half the time, our dogs get away with it!!
This is just one more batch of data demonstrating that those activities that make up thinking, that correspond to what we mistakenly call "the mind," are the result of cerebral development, not interaction with some disembodied intellect.
