Special Topic: Comparative Cognition

Animals are often faced with many different challenges in their everyday lives. Prey, for instance, might be difficult to find, or individuals may need to display to attract mates without also attracting predators. We can study behaviour to help us better understand these sorts of challenges and observe how animals respond to them, but the study of comparative cognition more specifically provides insights into the mental processes and strategies that animals use, as well as insights into how they perceive the world and make decisions. Through the study of comparative cognition, we can investigate how widely different abilities and strategies are expressed throughout the animal kingdom which, in turn, helps us better understand the mental lives of different animals, including us.