Fish Discovered Can Learn Mathematical Operations

As most of us will know from the kindergarten and primary school periods, teach the four operations Using colored blocks is an extremely common method. With this method, it can become easier to teach children basic mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

However, it seems that some sea ​​creatures You can also learn math. Cichlids and stingrays, who have undergone similar training by scientists, successfully perform simple mathematical operations. able to learn was discovered.

Sea creatures taught basic math

According to an article published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, the research team found that these animals exhibited the ability to learn basic math, and even this information in small children given to them. to solve logic puzzles stated that they used it. “We trained animals to do simple addition and subtraction” Vera Schluessel, from the Institute of Zoology at the University of Bonn and lead author of the study, said: “In doing so, they had to increase or decrease an initial value one at a time.” he added.

The research team first gave an animal they put in the tank an image containing one to five squares, circles, and triangles. Sometimes only blue and yellow were used as colors in these shapes, which are in different sizes and in a mixed form. blue color “add one” means yellow color “an interest” meant. For example, if three blue squares were displayed, it was synonymous with “3+1”. In this first stage, animals must recognize the number of depicted objects and also use the rule of calculating from their color. clutch had to.

After memorizing the picture shown to him, each animal was given two new pictures this time. One of the pictures had one less shape while the other had two more. to the corresponding second image He had to swim right.

To give an example: Let’s say a stingray is first shown four yellow shapes. It was the equivalent of asking them what a 4-1 is. Accordingly, when two new images are shown, what the stingray should do is picture with three shapes swimming right. This process may seem quite simple to us at the moment, but it is extremely difficult for a creature like a fish to grasp. on the subject “When the original image was replaced with two outcome images, they had to keep both in working memory. And then they had to decide on the correct outcome.” Using the expressions Schlussel, “Generally, requiring complex thinking skills a success.” recorded as.

Animal subjects were rewarded with a small reward each time they answered correctly. The process in which sea creatures get better and better over time is the most difficult process. was the extraction When we think in general, it can be said that this situation is also valid for people.

After the training phase, it’s time to the testing phase came. Because these animals aren’t just trained to get yummy rewards with certain images, the researchers instead really really learn how to do addition and subtraction. as you internalize They wanted to make sure. For this reason, the researchers, who deliberately skipped the 3+1 and 3-1 processes during training, found that the answers given by the animals that encountered these two processes for the first time during the test phase were still largely true observed that. Subjects generally had good results, even as the researchers made the process more complex over time.

Sea creatures may exhibit a thought process similar to humans

In fact, this result is not surprising considering that it has been proven in the past that fish can distinguish numerical values; but these creatures like arithmetic complex strategies still quite impressive. Considering that unlike us and other vertebrates, these creatures do not have a cerebral cortex to complete complex cognitive tasks. a similar thought process can be said to be fascinating.

With all this, the researchers believe that these findings are much more fishy than we thought. smarter He underlines that it contributes to a unified pool of evidence that he is and deserves far more respect from us.