ARTICLE
BY PATRIK LINDENFORS
MANY SCIENTIFICALLY INTERESTED PEOPLE HAVE SEEN them: films of different species of corvids that put objects in test tubes in order to raise the water surface to get at a floating piece of food. It looks as if the birds assemble an overview of the situation, contemplate how to best solve the problem, and then implement their solution. The experiments have been argued to constitute evidence that these birds can solve problems on about the same level as primates; they have even been compared to 5-7 year old children. But now new analyses from Stockholm University indicate that these assertions must be reconsidered.