小狗為什么會算術？

我們知道，有些小狗在經過訓練之后會做算術題。難道狗真的能夠計算嗎？讓奧地利生物學家、***獎金獲得者Konrad Lorenz告訴我們答案吧：

At first sight, their performances are really astounding. You are invited to set the examination yourself and you are put opposite the horse, terrier or whatever animal it is. You ask, how much is twice two; the terrier scrutinizes you intently and barks four times. In a horse, the feat seems still more prodigious for he does not even look at you. In dogs, who watch the examiner closely, it is obvious that their attention is concentrated upon the latter and not, by any means, on the problem itself. But the horse has no need to turn his eyes towards the examiner since, even in a direction in which the animal is not directly focusing, it can see, by indirect vision, the minutest movement. And it is you yourself who betray, involuntarily to the ‘thinking’ animal, the right solution. Should one not know the right answer oneself, the poor animal would knock or bark on desperately, waiting in vain for the sign which would tell him to stop. As a rule, this sign is forthcoming, since few people are capable, even with the utmost self-control, of withholding an unconscious and involuntary signal.

原來，狗或馬在某些方面的感覺比人類要靈敏得多，通過觀察測試者，就能察覺其不自覺間流露出的信息——問題的答案。當你向小狗提出算術題時，它會直勾勾地盯著你，注意力完全集中在研究你的表情、動作上，而不是集中在問題本身上。馬的感覺更加敏銳：它甚至用不著直接盯著你，用余光瞟一眼就能察覺最細微的動作。而對于絕大多數人來說，不論自制力有多強，總會在不知不覺間流露出某種信息，泄漏了問題的答案。