Scientists from Ruhr University have identified the main criteria for the presence of self-awareness in animals that some parrots, mice and other animals have. Research published in the journal cognition.
Like the authors of the handout, modern science often treats consciousness as two extremes: it is present or it is not. Another perspective is that different species have different degrees of consciousness. The authors believe that both perspectives are wrong.
According to their hypothesis, while ten aspects of consciousness can be discerned, in some species some aspects may be more prominent, in others others. Therefore, if you try to compare the degree of consciousness in a rat and an octopus, the result will be different depending on the direction taken. Such aspects can be, for example, complex emotions or the conscious perception of information from the senses.
Scientists consider episodic memory, that is, memories of events in a previous life, as one of the strongest indicators of consciousness. For example, it is known to be captured by mice and some bird species.
Scientists have called the complex conscious perception of information from the sense organs a less powerful criterion for consciousness. For example, a gray parrot named Alex can classify an object as red, round, and metallic at the same time. And border collies can remember the names of thousands of objects.
The authors noted that the question of the existence of consciousness in animals will remain unresolved until neuroscientists find out which parts of the brain are responsible for human self-awareness.