Clever Hans: (the Horse of Mr. Von Osten.) a Contribution to Experimental Animal and Human Psychology

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Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1911 - Animal intelligence - 274 pages
 

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Page 20 - In the case of playing cards one tap meant " ace," two taps " king," three " queen," etc. Let us turn now to some of his specific accomplishments. He had, apparently, completely mastered the cardinal numbers from I to 100 and the ordinals to 10, at least. Upon request he would count objects of all sorts,, the' persons present, even to distinctions of sex. Then hats, umbrellas, and eyeglasses. Even the mechanical activity of tapping seemed to reveal a measure -of intelligence. Small numbers were given...
Page 47 - Mr. von Osten. These signs are minimal movements of the head on the part of the experimenter. As soon as the experimenter had given a problem to the horse, he, involuntarily, bent his head and trunk slightly forward and the horse would then put the right foot forward and begin to tap, without, however, returning it each time to its original position.
Page 254 - oneteen ' and ' two- teen ' (' einzehn ' and ' zweizehn ' in the German) ; and only later, after the animal had seemingly mastered the meaning in question, did Mr. von Osten replace them by the usual forms. All this was beautifully conceived and might perhaps form the basis for the instruction of primitive races. But it is of immediate interest for us only because it enables us to better understand the origin of the conviction under which Mr. von Osten and his followers labored. SUPPLEMENT II THE...
Page 22 - If the eighth day of a month comes on Tuesday, what is the date for the following Friday?" He could tell the time to the minute by a watch and could answer off-hand the question, " Between what figures is the small hand of a watch at 5 minutes after half-past seven ? " or, " How many minutes has the large hand to travel between seven minutes after a quarter past the hour, and three quarters past?" Tasks that were given him but once would be repeated correctly upon request. The sentence...
Page 47 - ... As soon as the experimenter had given a problem to the horse, he, involuntarily, bent his head and trunk slightly forward and the horse would then put the right foot forward and begin to tap, without, however, returning it each time to its original position. As soon as the desired number of taps was given, the questioner would make a slight upward jerk of the head.
Page 242 - HOMME change l'état naturel des animaux en les forçant à lui obéir , et les faisant servir à son usage : un animal domestique est un esclave dont on s'amuse , dont on se sert , dont on abuse , qu'on, altère , qu'on dépayse et que l'on dénature ; tandis que l'animal sauvage , n'obéissant qu'à la Nature , ne connoît d'autres lois que celles du besoin et de sa liberté.
Page 21 - What are the factors of 28 ? " — Thereupon Hans tapped consecutively 2, 4, 7, 14, 28. " In the number 365287149 I place a decimal point after the 8. How many are there now in the hundreds place?" — 5. "How many in the ten thousandths place ? " — 9. It will be noticed, therefore, that he was able to operate with numbers far exceeding 100, indeed he could manipulate those of six places. We were told...
Page 31 - ... all in the case of the greater number of persons. Again, in the case of others he would respond once or twice, but would then cease. All told, Hans responded more or less readily to forty persons, but it was only when he worked with Mr. von Osten or with Mr. Schillings, that his responses were at all dependable. For this reason I undertook to befriend the horse, and by happy chance it came to pass in a short time he responded as readily to my questions as to those of the two gentlemen.
Page 75 - ... necessary that the questioner, during these tests, should stand perfectly erect. If he stooped ever so slightly, the test was unsuccessful. If he carefully refrained from any movement whatsoever, and looking straight before him asked the horse, " Which direction is right ? " or " Which way is upward ? ", Hans would execute all sorts of head movements without rhyme or reason. It was evident that he noted that a head movement of some kind was expected of him, but did not know the particular one...
Page 145 - I, momentarily indisposed, received the answer 10, and then six times in succession the answer " 9 ", and finally the correct response, " 8 ". Errors of another kind — the not infrequent offenses against the very elements of counting and the fundamental arithmetical processes — were regarded in part as intentional jokes and by an authority in pedagogy as a " sign of independence and stubbornness which might also be called humor...

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